THE Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental is set to install a new water system with Tagoloan River as the water source.

Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Vincente Emano said the project, which will cover the municipalities of Magsaysay-Lugait, will commence next year.

He said the province will partner with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to fast-track the project.

The first phase of the project will start in Balingasag up to Laguindingan town.

In the past years, Emano said the province suffered water scarcity with almost all of the municipalities complaining about it.

He said the irony is the province actually has good water source, citing the San Miguel Brewery (SMB) Incorporated’s latest brewery project.

SMB president Robert Huang said one of the factors that made them decide to put up a plant in Tagoloan is the town’s good water source, which Emano agreed.

“We have a good water source. We just did not maximize these resources. I was told that if SMB mixes its beer with our water, it is more delicious,” Emano said.

“Hopefully, this new water system will help solve our water problem, and hopefully we can break ground for this project early next year,” he added.

The governor said the project will still be under a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) agreement, to promote transparency.

Emano, along with other province officials, is set to go to Manila this month to present all his projects under the PPP arrangement, including the new water system.

The Provincial Board approved the PPP ordinance last April 12.

According to the “PPP Manual for LGUs (local government units),” PPP is a contractual agreement between the government and a private firm targeted towards financing, designing, implementing and operating infrastructure facilities and services that were traditionally provided by the public sector.

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