MAGARAO, Camarines Sur -- An irrigation system office of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) here will begin cutting off water service to farmers who failed to pay their irrigation service fee (ISF) starting February this year.

        Engr. Homer E. Diokno, irrigation superintendent of the NIA Tigman-Hinagyanan-Inarihan River Irrigation System (THIRIS) based in barangay Sta. Lucia here, said the implementation of the “No ISF payment, no water policy” is aimed to improve the low collection of ISF for the past years.

        Diokno said NIA continues to suffer from low ISF collection as more and more farmers failed to pay ISF even if they benefited from irrigation service.

        NIA records show that its collection efficiency in THIRIS varied from a high of 70.41 percent in 2003 to a low of 51 percent for the period covering 2003-2007.

        The irrigation official said that based on these figures, NIA was only able to collect 70 centavos in 2003, 59 centavos in 2004 and 2005, 60 centavos in 2006 and 51 centavos in 2007 for every pesos it should have collected from the farmer-beneficiaries of THIRIS.

        The NIA-operated irrigation system serves over 2,500 hectares of rice lands in the towns of Calabanga, Bombon, Magarao and Canaman in the 2nd district of Camarines Sur province.

        “We suffered deficits of P833,365 in 2003 and P 1,371,973 in 2006 as a result of low collection,” Diokno said.

        As a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), NIA depends on incomes from ISF and other sources to pay the salaries and wages of its employees including maintenance and other operating expenses.

        Diokno clarified that the “No ISF payment, no water policy” has been widely disseminated to officers and members of irrigators associations, municipal and barangay officials and even to the police personnel of the four municipal police stations.

        Covered by this policy are turnout service areas (TSA) with less than 50 percent collection efficiency during the last cropping season of 2007.

        Each TSA is composed of not more than 50 hectares irrigated by a turnout. A turnout is a structure that distributes water to a TSA.

        Diokno said once the TSA members meet the 50 percent collection efficiency requirement, irrigation service will be promptly restored.