Gov’t to pursue P14.2-B water project for Manila

The government will pursue the development of an alternative water source for Metro Manila through its public-private partnership (PPP) program, with the auction likely to be held next year, PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao said last week.

The proposed deal, formally known as the New Centennial Water Supply Source project, was initially valued at P14.2 billion and would pave the way for the construction of dams tapping the Kaliwa river system in Rizal province.

Large conglomerates said they would be keen on the project if it were to be auctioned off under the PPP program. But up until the last minute, the government was still mulling over its options, whether to undertake the project without private sector support.

The decision to move in this direction was made together with the project’s implementing agency, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, Canilao said.

MWSS Administrator Gerardo Esquivel confirmed the decision over the weekend.

“In our value for money analysis, it is still optimal for the government to do it via PPP,” Canilao said, noting that the final deal structure still has to be completed.

“We plan to present this to the CabCom by January,” Canilao said, referring to the National Economic Development Authority’s Cabinet committee.

“We can bid it out next year, as soon as it’s approved by President Aquino,” she added.

The New Centennial Water Supply Source Project is considered a critical infrastructure deal. It aims to provide a secondary water source to the Angat Dam in Bulacan, which supplies about 97 percent of the water requirements of Metro Manila.

The plan is not new. There had been previous attempts to find an alternative water source, like the Laiban Dam project in Rizal a few years ago.

Canilao noted that the Laiban Dam would still be part of the so-called second phase of the  New Centennial Water Supply Source Project.

The Laiban dam project was hounded by controversy some years back, when San Miguel Corp. submitted an unsolicited proposal which reportedly contained certain take-or-pay guarantees that Metro Manila’s water concessionaires claimed would increase rates.

The project was shelved in 2010 due to the dispute.

Apart from the development of dams, the New Centennial Water project will also involve the construction of a water treatment facility and a hydroelectric power plant, according to information posted on the website of the PPP Center.