Metro Dumaguete Water’s Kauban initiative reaches out to consumers at the barangay and household levels

Providing reliable and safe water to Dumaguete’s 35,000 households has been a battle cry of Metro Dumaguete Water since it started operating in February 2021. To fulfill this promise, the company employed strategies to improve water distribution services to Dumaguete and nearby communities. No stone is left unturned to ensure that these services are accessible, affordable, and reliable for all members of the community. The Kauban sa Barangay program is one such service that has seen its employees going the extra mile in customer relations and service.

Kauban, the Cebuano word for “companion”, signifies MDW’s commitment to work hand in hand with the people it serves in the barangay, the smallest political unit of the community.  The Kauban sa Barangay program is a grassroots level campaign that brings MDW services directly to the foundation of the Filipino community.

The initiative started in 2022 with the walk the line program, where MDW management and staff visited targeted communities early in the morning to gather information on the effectiveness of their services. The method facilitated direct communication between customers and MDW officers and staff, addressing concerns ranging from billing, water pressure, water leaks and water quality.

“The Kauban was designed to send a key message to our water consumers and our employees that Metro Dumaguete Water is sincere in its desire to be a genuine partner of the public. The walk the line program established stronger relationships with our customers through personal on-the-ground dialogues,” COO David Berba said.

The program soon embarked on its second stage where it was expanded to the barangay level. In collaboration with the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), MDW pinpointed the areas of service most clients would be interested about, i.e., water billing concerns, water interruption complaints, advisories on service interruptions, and account registration or reconnection. The MDW core team organized activities addressing these concerns through orientations that educated attendees about MDW’s projects, assured consumers of water quality and supply, and encouraged clients to participate in water conservation and source protection.

The program then delved into specific concerns through presentations conducted by technical representatives. Following these informative sessions, consumers were able to transact their business with MDW right in their own barangay. They could also sign up to receive SMS advisories.

So far, the program has covered 30 identified areas and has reached out to around 1,200 Dumagueteños. Through this, 56 accounts were connected/reconnected, and 156 complaints were addressed in its full year of implementation.

Now in its second year, the Kauban sa Barangay remains strong in terms of accommodating and seeing immediate action on the public concerns and needs. Berba assures that “for 2024, we will continue the Kauban initiative at both door-to-door and barangay level. In this way, we can enhance our engagement with the public, ensuring a consistent and immediate response to customer complaints.”