MacroAsia eyes water project

Lucio Tan-led airline services company MacroAsia Corp. is venturing into the utilities business, starting with the development of a water treatment facility to supply areas in the Province of Cavite.

The company Tuesday said it would spend P2.5 billion on a bulk water treatment plant to process as much as 150 million liters of water from the Maragondon River “for use by the water districts and other water utility companies in Cavite.”

“Today, many of the municipalities in Cavite are being serviced by water districts whose water supply is sourced from deep wells. Thus, many communities currently face the threat of [saltwater] intrusion into their water table due to extensive water extraction,” the company said in a disclosure.

“This bulk water supply project will provide a viable solution to this current situation in Cavite. As such, this project has full support of the water districts as well as the Cavite provincial government,” he said.

MacroAsia said the new facility would be developed by its subsidiary, MacroAsia Properties Development Corp., and partner Water Business (WB) Solutions Inc.

The company said it had recently signed an agreement to pursue the project with the Maragondon water district.

The construction of the facility was originally conceptualized by WB Solutions in 2008. The Maragondon River can supply water for nearly the entire province.