Manila Water Boracay proposal given priority

Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc.’s waste-to-energy proposal for Boracay has been given priority status as part of the longterm solution for the island.

Boracay Island Water Co. said its sister company Manila Water Total Solutions received the first option status from the local government unit for the construction of the facility.

“We have already submitted our proposal to the LGU and it is considered as the primary project they will consider for their PPP (public-private partnership). It is the first option,” Boracay Water general manager and chief operating officer Joseph Michael Santos said in a recent interview.

“There are other companies offering waste-to-energy in the island but they will have to look into our proposal before accepting other offers from other companies,” he added.

Manila Water Total Solutions is engaged in the provision of consultancy and related services for the implementation of water and wastewater network-related projects, as well as the maintenance, repair and installation of water service connection.

“Solid waste have mounted in the island. And instead of transporting it to the mainland, we are proposing a waste-to-energy facility so that it can generate additional power,” Santos said.

“In our estimate, a tourist brings two kilograms of waste and Boracay has an average of two million tourists per year, imagine how much waste that is,” he added.

Manila Water earlier said the project would initially produce one megawatt of power from both organic and inorganic waste.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has emphasized that putting up a waste-to-energy plant in Boracay is one of the long-term solutions to the island’s garbage problem.

Last year, Manila Water successfully tested its pilot waste-to-energy project – the first facility in the country that utilizes septage as a feed source.

Through the facility, septage sludge collected in the South Septage Treatment Plant, will be converted to biogas through the anaerobic digestion process and the biogas produced is then converted to electricity.

Meanwhile, the DENR is expected to reopen the country’s tourist destination by October 26 amid on track schedule of the clean-up operations.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said water quality on the island’s White Beach is already improving based on the regular monitoring conducted by the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau.

The island was closed last April 26 upon the order of President Duterte.

Boracay tourist arrivals have been increasing by a high of 15 percent annually.