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Friday, February 04, 2005
Peza supports Ayala, MCWD water proposal
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has expressed support for a plan by the Ayala Corp.-Central Equity Ventures Inc. (Ayala-Cevi) consortium to supply water to the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) for distribution in Mactan Island, including the economic zones in the area.
According to Dahlia Luna, Peza manager of MEZ 2 and other special economic zones in the Visayas and Mindanao, additional water supply to the eco-zones in Mactan will solve one of the critical problems that have been hounding locators in these areas.
She said the scarcity of water and power is on the agenda of every meeting of the Mactan Economic Processing Zone Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers (Mepzcem), which is composed of companies operating in MEZ 1, MEZ 2 and the Cebu Light Industrial Park (Clip).
These problems have discouraged the Peza from approving applications of investors interested to locate in the ecozones.
In regard to power, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Robert Go told Sun.Star the problem will be solved in 2008 yet.
“We really don’t have extra power. The issue on shortage of power supply is partially solved by the interconnection (of Cebu with the Leyte and Panay grids). But these areas also need the power sooner or later. The long-term solution is Kepco (Korea Electric Co.), but it (construction of its power plant) has also been delayed,” he said.
Go said Kepco, which will operate a coal-fired power plant in Cebu, has not been able to break ground yet due to problems on the ownership of the lot in Naga, Cebu where its two 100-megawatt power plants will be located.
Peza’s Luna said she hopes the proposed partnership between MCWD and Ayala-Cevi will push through.
Not endorsing
“We (Peza) are not endorsing Ayala. But if this is the only solution to the problem, why don’t we grab the opportunity? People can’t feel the urgent need for the water problem to be resolved. But as far as Peza is concerned, this is a very critical resource, especially for investment promotion,” Luna said in an interview Tuesday.
She revealed that Peza had denied the application of an investor who wanted to locate inside MEZ 1.
Existing zone locators have also reported that they could not expand their operations due to the water limitation.
Ayala-Cevi, which is undertaking the Carmen Water Supply Project, has proposed to sell water to MCWD for distribution in Mactan at P23.20 per cubic meter.
The Carmen Water Supply Project involves the construction of water intake facilities along the downstream of the Luyang-Cantumong River in Carmen, aside from the construction of a water treatment plant, water reservoir, booster pumping stations and pipelines.
The facility will draw water from the river and treat it to be sold to MCWD under a 25-year off-take agreement.
Daily demand
Luna said the daily demand for water of locators in MEZ 2 alone is 2,500 to 3,000 cubic meters. MCWD currently supplies only 1,400 cubic meters of water to the zone per day.
She said some companies, such as Lexmark (Philippines) International, have been buying water outside the zone in truckloads at P150 per truck. (JBN)
(February 4, 2005 issue)
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