MWC forms 11.2-B JV for Calbayog water supply

Ayala-led Manila Water Company, Inc. is now forming a joint venture (JV) company in Western Samar after being awarded the contract to provide water and wastewater services in Calbayog City.

Calbayog City serves as the commercial and industrial center of the province of Western Samar. It has a total estimated population of 194,000.

Manila Water said in a statement that it had already received the Notice of Award from the Calbayog City Water District (CCWD) for the implementation of an integrated water supply and sanitation project, to be carried out under a joint venture framework.

The contract covers the design, construction, rehabilitation, operation, maintenance, financing, expansion, and management of water and wastewater systems in the city of Calbayog, as well as other areas which may eventually form part of the service coverage of CCWD in the Province of Samar.

Manila Water now intends to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with its local partner, Tubig Pilipinas Group, Inc., to implement the project with an estimated capital expenditure of 11.2 billion under a contractual joint venture with CCWD.

As of 2017, CCWD has 13,097 water service connections, with a service coverage of only 32 percent and an effective water tariff of 139.4 per cubic meter. The project has a potential billed volume of about 30 million liters per day.

The joint venture agreement will grant the SPV the exclusive right to manage, operate, maintain, repair, refurbish and improve, expand and as appropriate, decommission, the facilities of CCWD.

The SPV shall also be given the right to bill and collect tariff for the provision of water supply and sanitation services in the service area.