|
By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel, Reporter
MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. is set to sign
agreements with foreign technical partners to improve its water-loss
reduction program and find new sources of water for its customers in
south Metro Manila.
On the sidelines of the Semirara Mining Corp.
stockholders’ meeting, Herbert Consunji, Maynilad chief operating
officer, told reporters the company will sign this month a joint
venture agreement with two foreign firms for the loss-reduction
program.
“We got two offers but we haven’t finalized
which one to choose or we marry their proposals because their
proposals are distinct and these are from two different countries
and they might not get along. They are good and they have done this
abroad,” Consunji said.
The Maynilad executive refused to identify the
foreign parties or their countries of origin, but said the funds for
this new project will come from the P8-billion capital expenditure
the company is setting aside for this year.
For last year, the company, which controls the
east zone of state-run Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage
System’s concession, aimed to cut its non-revenue water to 59
percent from the previous year’s 66 percent.
Maynilad also recently bid out the right to
build and operate the facilities that will process water from Laguna
de Bay. The company plans to tap the country’s largest freshwater
lake as a new water source for Parañaque and nearby areas under
Maynilad’s concession.
Consunji said seven foreign firms joined the
bidding, but refused to say when the winner will be announced.
“We will finalize that since we want it to be
like what they did in Singapore wherein the wastewater from the
sewers are processed through reverse osmosis, micro-filtration and
ultraviolet [treatment] and the end-product is drinking water. They
recover 70 percent of the water they suck out of the sewer. They say
the quality of their sewer and chemical composition is the same as
that of Laguna de Bay,” he said.
Earlier, Consunji said Maynilad will sign a
$365-million 10-year loan with BDO Capital and Investments Corp.
next month. Of the total amount, $240 million will be used to
refinance the debt the new owners incurred when they bought out the
government’s controlling stake in Maynilad.
The balance of $125 million will fund the
company’s capex, which will be augmented by a $60-million equity
contribution that that will be equally divided among the three
entities comprising Maynilad, namely, DMCI Holdings Inc., Metro
Pacific Investments Corp. and Ashmore Investment Management Ltd.
|
