MCWD accepts consortium’s offer for desalination plant

THE Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) has accepted the proposal of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC)-Aboitiz consortium for the construction of a desalination plant in LapuLapu City.

However, MCWD general manager Jose Eugenio Singson Jr. said the group’s offer is not a done deal as negotiations for the price of water per cubic meter are still ongoing.

He said the indicative cost, or the offer price, is set at P80 per cubic meter of water.

After the terms of reference— the definition of the project’s purpose and structure—are completed, MCWD will inform the public about the project in newspaper publications. Metro Cebu’s water supplier then will open its doors to other investors who are willing to propose better deals than the original proponent.

The agreement between MCWD and the winning proponent needs approval from MCWD’s board of directors before the project could push through, according to Singson.

MCWD favors a developer that has an advanced technology, offers a low price per cubic meter of water from its desalination plant and is able to provide 100,000 cubic meters of water per day.

Singson said he has no knowledge of other investors who are willing to challenge MPICAboitiz’s proposal because the project is not yet formally announced in major publications.

The public announcement about the project is expected to be published in newspapers in July.

MCWD spokesperson Charmaine Kara said the construction of the desalination plant would take three years to complete.

Meanwhile, MCWD officials plan to meet with Talisay City mayor-elect Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. and governor-elect Gwen Garcia. They will ask the officials’ support for their plan to construct a dam in Barangay Mananga.

Singson said they placed the project, which is worth P7 billion, under MCWD’s solicited proposal scheme.

The dam, when completed, is projected to supply 86,000 cubic meters of water per day.

The Mananga dam project will be published in newspapers, only after the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board approves it. MCWD then can accept proposals from developers.

In a solicited proposal method, the joint venture selection committee of MCWD has the power to choose a good offer.

Kara said the sure winner is the proponent who has the technology and offers a low price.

As of now, MCWD is buying water for P32 per cubic meter from its private water supplier. /