P24B water project attracts interest

The government’s first water public-private partnership deal, the P24.4-billion Bulacan bulk water supply project, has drawn the interest of water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. and new players including conglomerate San Miguel Corp. AFP FILE PHOTO

The government’s first water public-private partnership deal, the P24.4-billion Bulacan bulk water supply project, has drawn the interest of water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. and even new players such as conglomerate San Miguel Corp., the Inquirer learned.

The project, which will be implemented by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), aims to supply potable water to 24 areas in Bulacan province. It is part of three projects valued at about $1 billion that the agency was looking to implement, MWSS administrator Gerardo Esquivel said in a separate interview on Wednesday.

The other two are the P14.2-billion New Centennial water supply source project, which the agency recommended should no longer be offered under the PPP Program because water supply should be state-owned, and a $140-million Angat water transmission project to rehabilitate aging infrastructure, Esquivel said.

The Bulacan bulk water PPP deal, however, is expected to attract much of the public’s attention because of its private-sector component.

Even at this early stage, some companies have started to express their interest even as Metro Manila’s water concessionaires, Maynilad and the Ayala Group’s Manila Water Co. Inc., have set into motion legal proceedings against MWSS over the latter’s decision to cut water rates versus their proposals for an increase.

San Miguel president Ramon S. Ang said in a text message that they “will bid” for the Bulacan bulk water deal, which will be the diversifying conglomerate’s initial foray into the business.

Maynilad chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said separately that they would “take a look at it” while Ayala Corp. managing director John Eric Francia said they “remain open to PPP in the water sector.”

“We are interested as to what the direction is with regard to the bulk water project (Laiban/Kaliwa) as this is critical to water security,” Francia added in an e-mail response to queries.

Esquivel said an initial six Bulacan districts—Obando, Meycauayan, Marilao, Bocaue, Balagtas and San Jose—would be connected under the PPP project before President Aquino steps down in 2016.

The final decision to bid, however, would depend on the eventual release of the terms of reference for the PPP project, which was approved by President Aquino last week along with six other big-ticket infrastructure projects with a combined value of P184 billion.

Esquivel said the MWSS was planning to hold an investors’ forum, tentatively scheduled within the first three weeks of January next year.

“We are inviting proponents, consultants, fund managers,” he said.

As noted, concessionaires are keen on the New Centennial Water Supply Source, which involves building the Kaliwa river dam (Laiban dam) and the Kaliwa low dam, as a secondary water source to the Angat Dam in Bulacan, which supplies about 97 percent of Metro Manila’s needs.