Maynilad sets capex target of P42B

Maynilad Water Services, Inc. has set a capital expenditure target of about P42 billion for the three year period 2016-2018 to advance the improvement and expansion of water and wastewater services.

Maynilad said in a statement that of the total, about P21 billion would be spent for water projects and about P20 billion for its sewerage and sanitation program.

The first package of projects includes service expansion, management of water losses or non-revenue water, operational support programs such as the upgrade of pumping stations, and the development of new water sources.

The second package covers the construction of sewage treatment plants, laying of conveyance systems, acquisition of lots for new wastewater facilities, and maintenance of the existing wastewater infrastructure.

“Through this three-year capex program, we hope to ramp up our massive investments by accelerating the completion of new projects so we can meet our service obligations to our customers and the government,” Maynilad president and chief executive Ramoncito S. Fernandez said in a statement.

Fernandez said Maynilad’s infrastructure investments will come from local and international bank loans as well as internally generated funds.

He said Maynilad, through the three-year capex program, expected to create at least 126,000 jobs.

For 2016 alone, Maynilad expects to create 18,397 jobs as the company pours in P6 billion to expand its portfolio of wastewater treatment plants and sewerage facilities.

The company’s wastewater infrastructure network currently includes three septage treatment plants, 19 sewage treatment plants, 40 pumping stations, 22 lift stations, and more than 500 kilometers of sewer lines.
“It is a challenge to implement sewerage projects because of the inconvenience that inevitably results from laying the conveyance systems,” Fernandez said last March.

“We ask for the patience of the general public as we aim to facilitate the completion of our wastewater infrastructure, which is necessary to protect community health and the environment,” he said.

Earlier this month, Maynilad inaugurated its Alabang-Zapote Septage Treatment Plant (Alazap SpTP) in Las Piñas City.

The new facility—one of six Maynilad projects funded by a $137.5-million loan package from the World Bank—is part of the company’s program to hasten the provision of sewerage and sanitation services in Metro Manila.

The Alazap SpTP can treat up to 250 cubic meters (or 250,000 liters) of septage daily. It was built to treat wastewater collected from the septic tanks of Maynilad customers in the southern part of its west zone concession area.