SMC awarded contract to build Bulacan water project

San Miguel Corp. has won the contract to build the P24.4-billion Bulacan Water Supply Project, the first such undertaking to clear the hurdle under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center.

SMC has proposed to do the project through a joint venture with Korea Water Resources Corp., which the PPP Center said submitted the best bid at P8.50 per cubic meter.

The consortium outbid two other groups—Prime Alloy Water led by Prime Water Infrastructure Corp. and Team Polaris led by Manila Water Company Inc.

The contract is with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the project is intended to supply treated bulk water to 24 water services providers in as many towns of Bulacan.

The project is expected to help the municipal water service systems meet increasing demand, expand their service areas, and increase the households served.

SMC K-Water, under a 30-year build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) contract, is committed to finance, design and build, and operate and maintain the pipes, treatment facilities and water source for the Bulacan project.

“By tapping the private sector in this project, government will be able to deliver better services and secure access to potable water of millions of Filipinos in the province of Bulacan,” said PPP Center executive director Cosette V. Canilao in a statement.

Canilao added that the project was also expected to reduce the use of deep wells in Bulacan, which will help mitigate the adverse environmental impact of excessive groundwater extraction.

The planned facility is one of two MWSS projects in the PPP pipeline, the other being the P18.7-billion New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project in Tanay, Rizal.