March 22, 2006
Today is World Water Day.
For about a month, my friends over at San Pedro (Laguna) didn't have any running water. They, along with other residents in their subdivision, were settling their water bill through the homeowners' association. Otherwise, they'd have to make the trip downtown - not exactly a convenient option for most residents. Then one day, the water supply got cut. It turned out that the homeowners' association had suddenly become unreliable with the water bill payments. Instead of passing the payments onto the private firm that supplied the residents' water, the association wanted to seize the firm and run it themselves.
And so the homeowners' association politicked over water while my friends had to agonize over alternative water sources and the prospect of rusty pipes. There were delivery trucks, sure, but they were concerned about the contamination levels. Left without much choice, they resorted to water delivery, which put a huge dent into their budget.
The association even had the guts to hold an election to see if the community was for or against their handling of the water system. It was no surprise that they lost out on the vote. Eventually, the officers were forced to resign and were replaced by new ones. And the residents got their water back. Let's just hope that no one in the association starts hoarding the water again.
For about a month, my friends over at San Pedro (Laguna) didn't have any running water. They, along with other residents in their subdivision, were settling their water bill through the homeowners' association. Otherwise, they'd have to make the trip downtown - not exactly a convenient option for most residents. Then one day, the water supply got cut. It turned out that the homeowners' association had suddenly become unreliable with the water bill payments. Instead of passing the payments onto the private firm that supplied the residents' water, the association wanted to seize the firm and run it themselves.
And so the homeowners' association politicked over water while my friends had to agonize over alternative water sources and the prospect of rusty pipes. There were delivery trucks, sure, but they were concerned about the contamination levels. Left without much choice, they resorted to water delivery, which put a huge dent into their budget.
The association even had the guts to hold an election to see if the community was for or against their handling of the water system. It was no surprise that they lost out on the vote. Eventually, the officers were forced to resign and were replaced by new ones. And the residents got their water back. Let's just hope that no one in the association starts hoarding the water again.
Labels: environment, governance
