Two separate seminars for executives of small Mindanao water districts and information officers will be conducted this week in Davao City by the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to orient them about financial and institutional management and new trends on corporate communications and public relations.

LWUA Administrator Lorenzo H. Jamora said that both seminars will be held simultaneously from August 15 to 17 at the Insular Hotel and the Malagos Garden Resort, respectively.

The LWUA chief disclosed that the Insular Hotel seminar and workshop will be attended by officials of small water districts in Mindanao which were among the recipients of a P100 million loan package from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

LWUA Deputy Administrator for Operations Emmanuel B. Malicdem, also project deputy director, said the seminar workshop shall cover wide ranging concerns and the objectives of the small water district improvement project.

Malicdem explained that the seminar-workshop will provide the participants the knowledge to effectively enable the small water districts to achieve financial viability. The three-day affair will also be attended by top JICA executives.

Jamora said that the seminar-workshop is packaged by LWUA and JICA as part of the technical training for 60 small water districts to ensure growth and help them modernize operations.

Meanwhile, Jamora disdosed that the water agency is in the process of organizing the LWUA-Water District Information Officers Network pursuant to Malacañang's Administrative Order No. 127 requiring agencies and government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to undertake increased information campaign in order to improve public awareness on various programs, projects and achievements of the government.

The Administrator will also hold a dialogue with seminar participants to clarify issues in the provincial water supply sector.

He said the information officers of water districts are being harnessed into one national organization (see chart below) to provide the LWUA Public Affairs Department with important information materials which the latter will collate for release or distribution to various media outlets in Metro Manila and other urban centers in the countryside.
c August 14 , 2006