Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Water suppliers seen to provide 50T cu.m. a day
LOCAL water suppliers are looking forward to supplying at least 50,000 cubic meters of water a day to the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) now that negotiations with Ayala Corp. have been terminated.
Pilipinas Water Resources Inc., a consortium of Cebu-based water suppliers, has begun talks with MCWD for the supply of water from seven sources within Cebu City.
One of the pending proposals is the supply of some 20,000 cubic meters of water a day from deep wells at the South Road Properties, which the consortium plans to sell at P20 per cubic meter.
Pilipinas Water President Antonio Tompar dismissed insinuations that they got the backing of Mayor Tomas Osmeña in opposing the Ayala Corp. consortium on the Carmen bulk water supply project, so that they can supply the additional water needed by the water district.
Their proposals, he said, have long been presented to MCWD even before the Ayala consortium’s unsolicited proposal.
Tompar said they already proposed the water supply project at the SRP two months ago as well as six other proposals from various sources.
“I was told that the SRP is the one that MCWD is interested in. We are just waiting for the terms of reference for the bidding and after that, we’ll be ready to proceed with the bidding where other suppliers can challenge our price. The lowest bidder will win,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
Tompar joined other water suppliers in seeking the mayor’s help in ensuring a level playing field in the bidding for the Carmen water project.
Pilipinas Water planned to challenge Ayala’s price of P25.55 per cubic meter.
But if local suppliers win, Ayala can still match their price. If it decides not to match the winning bidder’s price, the winning bidder will have to reimburse Ayala its project development expenses of some P150 million.
The amount was eventually lowered to P80 million representing the cost of water rights transfer, but that was still not acceptable to MCWD, which terminated the negotiations last week.
Meanwhile, Manila Water Inc. Chief Finance Officer Sherisa Nuesa wrote the MCWD board to seek clarification on what they have read in the newspapers.
Nuesa declined from commenting further on the issue, and said they will give MCWD the courtesy of reading their letter first. She asked MCWD to communicate directly with Manila Water Inc. officials.
Manila Water Inc., a subsidiary of Ayala Corp., was supposed to implement the P2-billion Carmen bulk water supply project which would have supplied up to 40,000 cubic meters of water a day to MCWD at P25.55 per cubic meter.
In a phone interview, MCWD General Manager Armando Paredes said they have not sent Manila Water a formal notice on their decision to terminate the negotiations for the project because the board officials have yet to sign the resolution.
But the board already agreed in principle to stop negotiations on the projects after seeing that it was impossible to arrive at a mutually acceptable amount for the water rights transfer cost, which will be reimbursed to Manila Water.
The Ayala consortium is asking a refund of P80 million for their expenses in securing the water permit but MCWD is willing to reimburse only up to P100,000.
“Unless something happens, and they will stick to their P80 million and not yield to the amount the board has set, then I think the board will not be willing to resume negotiations. If they agree to P100,000 then MCWD can proceed with the price challenge for the project,” Paredes told Sun.Star Cebu.
Paredes, who is in Manila for a seminar, has yet to read Nuesa’s letter.
If all their proposals are accepted and they win in all the bidding, Tompar said they will be able to supply a bigger volume of water than the Ayala consortium and at a lower cost.
Pilipinas Water, a consortium of Tompar’s Mactan Rock Industries and businessman Michelle Lhuiller, is proposing to supply surface water from Barangays Bulacao, Bonbon and Pulangbato and from rivers in Cotcot and Jaclupan, as well as in Mactan Island.
“Ayala was proposing to deliver the water to Liloan and MCWD will have to fund its transmission to the end users, whereas the water we will supply will be infused in areas where MCWD needs it,” Tompar added. (LCR)
