ADB considering Philippine water, sanitation projects worth $600M

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN — At least $600 million worth of Philippine water and sanitation-related projects for implementation in 2017-2019 are up for consideration for Asian Development Bank (ADB) financing, according to a table the regional lender distributed to visiting journalists here by e-mail.

The table showed that the government is seeking ADB loans, grants or co-financing for the Lake Laguna Flood/Integrated Water Resource Management Program ($400 million), as well as the second phase of the Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project and Metro Manila Water and Sanitation Program ($100 each).

Also up for consideration are the Mindanao Development Program ($100 million) and a Solid Waste Management Sector Project ($70 million).

No other detail was provided as of yesterday afternoon.

ADB has been financing the Water District Development Sector Project which seeks to enable water districts outside Metro Manila to expand and rehabilitate supply systems and to build sanitation facilities, as well as the first phase of the Angat Water Transmission Improvement Project that will improve supply to 13 million people in the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System service area. The Angat project aims to plug the daily loss to aqueduct leaks of an estimated 800,000 cubic meters or 20% of potential water supply.

The regional lender has earmarked some $4.2 billion in total loans for water and sanitation management projects this year, nearly double last year’s $2.4-billion allocation, Amy Leung, deputy director-general of ADB’s Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, told visiting journalists in a briefing yesterday at the PACIFICO Yokohama conference complex. Much of the allocations this year, she said, will “scale up and expand existing projects but with more innovative technologies.”

Also yesterday, the regional lender said in a press release that it will give technical assistance to help improve and modernize solid waste management in Cebu City through the Asia-Pacific Project Preparation Facility (AP3F).

ADB’s assistance will help city authorities prepare a pre-feasibility study involving review of economic, legal, technical, social and environmental aspects of the Cebu project, which a private sector entity will design, build, finance, operate and maintain.

“PPPs will play a critical role for urban areas in Asia and the Pacific to improve infrastructure delivery and quality of life for residents,” the statement quoted Ryuichi Kaga, head of ADB’s Office of Public-Private Partnership (PPP), as saying.

The assistance forms part of AP3F, a multi-donor trust fund managed by ADB to help developing Asia and the Pacific prepare, structure, and place bankable PPP projects on the market.

AP3F was announced in May 2015 with some $73 million in initial funding, including $40 million from Japan, $10 million from the ADB, C$20 million from Canada and AU$10 million from Australia.