$100M water project backed at hearing

A proposed water desalination plant for central Saipan drew support on Wednesday from residents frustrated over empty faucets which have struck some villages in recent years due to growing population and long dry spell.

But some villagers still balked at a cost-sharing agreement offered by the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation that will push water bills by as much as 10 times higher than the present rate to finance the $100 million project.

Apparently irked by delay, legislators from Precint 3 vowed in a public hearing held late Wednesday to subsidize the project and move ahead with its construction which has been derailed for the past two years due to funding problem.

“CUC has to do its part in making a decision. Once they have decided that there is a need for alternative water source, give us that proposal and seek legislative assistance in terms of subsidy to lower the rates for consumers,” Rep. Heinz Hofschneider said in an interview.

Some residents from Garapan, Gualo Rai and China Town expressed concern over the ten-fold hike in their monthly utility bills which, according to CUC, is necessary to meet its financial obligations on the project that will be constructed through the build-operate-transfer scheme.

Based on the proposal, water produced by the plant will cost between $5 to $8 per 1,000 gallons — a drastic leap of present rate of 50 cents for every 1,000 gallons.

“This is very expensive,” Rufina Miles said at the hearing. “CUC has to look at other avenues if it is the only solution, like asking other customers” to share the burden, she added.

But for Viola Sablan, the project may be her only hope to get a 24-hour potable water for her Garapan house. “The water here is bad and salty and only comes out for two hours a day,” she said.

Perennially hit with acute water shortages, Garapan, Gualo Rai and China Town are the main beneficiary of the desalination plant that will serve as an alternative to rapidly drying wells.

The project, estimated to cost CUC some $100 million over a 20-year period, has been put off several times in the last two years largely due to constraint of sourcing necessary funds to build the plant on Saipan.

To finance the plant, additional revenues through a higher utility rate will have to be implemented to meet its obligations under a deal proposed by Earth Tech, a U.S. water technology and engineering firm.

Since the government is not paying the $10 million construction cost, CUC is obliged to purchase its projected produce of three million gallons of water everyday at a cost of some $5 million each year for the next 20 years.

But legislators who attended the hearing, the second town meeting in one year, pledged anew to work out a subsidy program for low-income families to cover part of the costs and alleviate their burden.

In a hearing conducted in March last year, island residents had frowned on the cost-sharing proposal as many were not ready to spend additional money on top of mounting household expenses despite the long-term solution offered by the project.

CUC Executive Director Timothy P. Villagomez earlier has urged for its cancellation due to its failure to draw clear support from residents and government leaders.