MPIC water unit inks supply deal worth P12.35 B

Metro Pacific Water (MPW), the water utility company of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), has expanded in the city of Iloilo.

It signed a P12.35-billion joint venture project with the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) for a 25-year concession to rehabilitate, expand and improve water distribution and wastewater management in the city.

MPIC president Jose Ma. K Lim said the signing of the agreement is a testament of the company’s investments in the area.

“As the country’s leading infrastructure investment company, with interests across several infrastructure sectors, we bring with us expertise and innovations in infrastructure that will underpin growth of the city’s economy and impact the lives of millions of people,” he said.

MPW is expected to start upgrading the existing facilities of MIWD and build new infrastructure to improve the services of the local water utility following the signing of the agreement.

Sen. Franklin Drilon welcomed the joint venture project, saying the insufficient supply and inefficient water delivery system has been a problem for more than 840,000 residents of Iloilo City and the surrounding municipalities of Maasin, Sta. Barbara, Pavia, San Miguel, Oton and Leganes, which are the franchise areas of MIWD.

“Only 30 percent of the 840,000 residents of these franchise areas are being served, that is why it is very critical to provide solutions to the problem,” he said.

However, Drilon expressed hope that the joint venture project would be the start of solving these problems given projections that the city’s demand for water would rise to almost 94,000 cubic meters in four years.

Last year, MPW bagged the Pampanga bulk water supply project from the Office of the Governor of Pampanga.

It also signed a joint venture agreement with the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) for the formation of a joint venture company to undertake the supply of bulk treated water to address the requirements of Cagayan de Oro City.

The CDO project will have a term of 30 years -- renewable for another 20 years--and involves the supply of up to 100 million liters per day of treated bulk water to COWD.

It involves the construction of new water transmission lines and the rehabilitation of the Camaman-an reservoir and will also eventually involve the delivery of bulk treated water to service the requirements of CDO’s western sector, which currently relies on deep wells for its water supply.