Water shortage hits businesses

CEBU, Philippines - Apart from the adverse impact to agriculture, the water shortage problem caused by the prolonged El Niño phenomenon is now affecting businesses in Cebu.

Restaurants are among those starting to feel the pinch of the absence of water.

Roel Larbita, junior manager of Dimsum Break Colon, said they had to use disposable utensils and cups because with the absence of water, they can’t keep up in washing all of their utensils. The water shortage problem is crippling their operation.

Dimsum Break cashier Cora Galleta said when water is not flowing, they had to fetch water from a pump, however it is still not enough to wash all dishes and utensils. She added that this already resulted to an estimated 20 percent loss to their sales.

Meanwhile, Teresa Pordago of Jollibee Colon said that water supply stops at 10AM and they had to purchase mineral water for the restaurant’s cooking needs. And for other store operations that require water, they have to fetch from the pump. This problem has already resulted to angry customers with some cancelling their orders because the lack of water also slowed down their services.

On the other hand, Abigail Bacaldo of CUT Salon in Urgello said that while they feel the water shortage, it has not really affected their operations because they can easily fetch water anytime from her boarding house, which is just near the salon.

Laundry shops, meanwhile are experiencing a surge in demand. Carmen Deligero of Tyko Laundry Shop as well as Ana Maria of Laundry Care both said they are currently experiencing a high demand but there are also instances that they can’t finish up the laundry on schedule.

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) earlier said the Philippines is the second Southeast Asian country to sound the alarm on scarcity of water supply after Thailand did last month.

ECCP, for its part, intends to push hard for the making of a super agency that will be responsible for all water-related matters in the country.

ECCP President Henry Schumacher earlier said that “we need to emerge with methods that will push everyone to continue having admittance to water supply, there should be a water security in this country, Filipinos must start to conserve water and reduce water pollution.”

Moreover, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) identified Metro Cebu as one of the cities in Philippines that will experience a severe water shortage by 2025. (FREEMAN)