Unsolicited proposal violates BOT law

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) did not adopt a Japanese firm’s unsolicited proposal for a Kaliwa Intake Weir because the project was not deemed a solution toward long-term water supply for Metro Manila and adjacent provinces.

Also, according to the MWSS, the Public-Private Partnership Center ruled that accepting the  unsolicited proposal of Global Utility Development Co. Ltd. (GUDC) would violate the implementing rules of the Build-Operate-Transfer Law.

In a letter to MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco dated March 23, 2017, PPP Center deputy executive director Mia Mary G. Sebastian noted that the National Economic and Development Authority’s board approved the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project on May 29, 2014.

GUDC’s “proposal contemplates the same NCWS-KDP and involves the construction of an intake weir, which is also a component of the approved NCWS-KDP,” Sebastian said.

“Thus, subject to further information that can be provided, the unsolicited proposal by GUDC for the Kaliwa Intake Weir Project is ineligible,” she added.

In other words, GUDC’s proposed project was equivalent to a component of the Kaliwa Dam project, an unsolicited proposal for a mere part of a project that had been approved already.

In a statement, MWSS said GUDC’s project, which has an output of 550 million liters a day (MLD), did not provide long-term water supply, compared to the Kaliwa Dam project, which could be expanded from 600 MLD to 2,400 MLD.

Kaliwa Intake Weir’s delivery point in Tanay, Rizal, is also very far from Maynilad’s area, unlike Kaliwa Dam’s, which is in Teresa town.

“Should the need to increase the supply to 2,400 MLD, [GUDC] has to build  another dam, plus a separate conveyance tunnel to accommodate the additional supply of 1,800 MLD,” MWSS said.

“With MWSS’ objective of long-term water source, GUDC’s unsolicited proposal cannot be considered as a long-term solution to meet the growing demand of water supply and likewise cannot be compared to the intended design of Kaliwa Dam,” the agency added.

In a letter to GUDC chief executive Toshikazu Nomura dated June 8 ,2017, Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said while the Japanese firm was requesting to submit an unsolicited proposal, the government had already decided to pursue the Kaliwa Dam project.

This was reiterated in another letter from Pernia to Nomura dated March 26, 2018.