Rainwater catchments ordinance unheeded

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Office of the Building Official (OBO) admitted that only few houses and buildings in the city are compliant with the city ordinance requiring the construction of rainwater catchments in all buildings, whether commercial, industrial or residential to help conserve water.

OBO chief Josefa Ylanan made the admission before the members of the city council during last week’s regular session as her office was tasked to determine the status of the implementation of the ordinance for the council to know if amendments are necessary to strengthen it.

The building officials spent three days the other week to do the research and survey.

Based on the OBO records there are 7,144 commercial and residential buildings that are compliant to the ordinance since it was in acted in 1999.

However, a random inspection conducted by them revealed that of the 559 buildings they have inspected only 56 were found to have rainwater cisterns.

Some buildings have gutters but during rainy days, the rainwater only goes to the canals.

“Ang mahitabo man gud, i-apil nila sa drawing ang rain water catchments pero dili nila i-implement. We do not issue certificate of occupancy if wala’y rain water tanks. But most of them are complaining na dili sila ka-afford. So I think we should revisit our ordinance,” Ylanan said.

The ordinance is similar to the 21-year old Republic Act 6716 or the Rainwater Collector and Springs Development Law.

She said that they have advised and even taught the applicants to use improvised water tanks like drums of regular containers instead of the prescribed water tanks, but still many do not put it to use.

What happens most of the time is the improvised water tanks are available upon inspection, but not anymore after the issuance of the permit. There should be a surprise inspection every once in a while but the OBO admitted that lack of personnel makes a regular inspection impossible.

Under the ordinance, all buildings are required to construct rainwater cisterns otherwise they will not be issued an occupancy permit. Violation of the ordinance could mean 30 days to six months of imprisonment and a fine of P1,000 to P5,000.

The public is urged to conserve water after the city has recorded a reduction in the supply due to the dry spell.

The rainwater that each household may store can be used for washing cars, watering of plants, or even for drinking if proper treatment is applied, rather than sourcing it from the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD). — THE FREEMAN