Ilocos Norte Gov. Maria Imleda Josefa “Imee” Marcos called on the government to hasten the construction of water flagship projects, including the Kaliwa and Laiban dams, and to make the water agency and two concessionaires accountable for the water shortage. “Mataas ang presyo ng tubig, pero maayos ba ang serbisyo? Kung hindi nila kaya, malamang may ibang magsisikap na magserbisyo sa publiko ng tama,” the Governor said, adding that the public deserves better service than what the two concessionaires have been rendering.
She also pointed out that the Kaliwa and Laiban dam projects which were started during the time of her father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, have been put in the back-burner in past administrations. “It has been too long since these were put on the government’s development agenda during the Marcos administration. Copping out of making the difficult decision to push through the construction of additional water sources like the Kaliwa and Laiban dams led us to where we are now — a looming massive scarcity of the most important survival resource of our people,” Marcos said.