Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Price, conflict of interest, permit By Linette C. Ramos Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Gingging Campaña & Elias Baquero
THEY did not ask to stop the Carmen water project but consumer and business groups, local water suppliers, Cebu City and church officials reiterated their call yesterday for MCWD to provide cheap water to Metro Cebu.
Their appeal came amid allegations of overpricing by the Ayala-led Consortium of the 40,000 cubic meters of water it is proposing to sell to the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) a day.
Cebu City officials also raised allegations of conflict of interest against the World Bank consultants advising the MCWD on the project.
During the public hearing that lasted nearly six hours, officials of the Ayala Corp.-led consortium also justified the cost of their water and the project development cost refund they are asking for.
Much as they want to reduce the cost of Carmen water from P25.55 per cubic meter, a consultant of the consortium said they are constrained by some of the provisions of the contract, such as the high penalties that will be imposed on them for shortage of supply, among other things.
“We can definitely lower the price way below P25. However, there are conditions in the contract that make it difficult to do so... You ask me why the price is so high. It’s because of the penalties imposed,” Manuel Reyes, consultant to the Ayala-owned Manila Water Company Inc. (MWCI), told the Cebu City Council yesterday.
