MNWD gains headway on its financial recovery

By Jason B. Neola

THE Metro Naga Water District has 125 employees whose contracts of service were not renewed and 55 plantilla positions were abolished due to redundancy.

The course of action was undertaken after the water district implemented its rightsizing initiative that aims to enhance MNWD’s institutional capacity to perform its mandate and provide better services while ensuring optimal use of resources.

On the abolishment of the plantilla position, MNWD General Manager Florencio Tam-Mongoso Jr. said that he decided to terminate the admission of applicants or occupants to the vacant positions because of redundancy. The approach was done in consultation with the members of the MNWD Board and heads of offices.

Redundancy is when an employer, which is in this case is the MNWD, reduces its workforce because a position or positions are no longer needed.

Mongoso, was designated to head the water firm on the strength of a secondment agreement or contract in August, this year, to spearhead the formulation of strategies that will help the MNWD to recover from bankruptcy and prevent it from developing more losses.

Mongoso said that by the non-renewal of service contracts and the abolishment of unnecessary positions, the MNWD was able to generate the sum of P47.4-M (P13.6-M from non-renewal of contract of service and P33.8-M from the abolishment of unnecessary positions) that can be considered as the firm’s savings.

He, however, clarified that the dismissed personnel may be re-hired anytime when the firm’s financial capability becomes normal considering the volume of works that the water firm has to undertake in the days ahead.

“The 125 personnel were dismissed from work not because they fell short of what the MNWD was expected of them but because of the need to discharge them from service due to the firm’s incapacity to pay for their wages and salaries due to its deficits,” he said.

The present management of the water firm has been pursuing several approaches to enable it to normalize its finances. One of which is the strict implementation of cost-cutting measures on fuel and electricity.