TWO more permits are needed for the bulk water project in Davao City to start its construction, an officer of Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. (AAII) said.
In an interview with AAII general manager Engineer Cirilo Almario III, he said the company is optimistic that the two remaining permits will be acquired before the year ends or by first quarter of 2018.
After the Davao City Council approved on third and last reading the Bulk Water Supply project in Tamugan River last Tuesday, October 10, the Apo AAII said it is ready to start construction once its applications from both Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) are approved.
AAII's application for the Certificate of Eligibility to Convert from DA took quite a long time as numerous assessments have to be done by the department before it allows AAII to use the land in Barangay Gumalang, Baguio District for its water treatment facility, converting its current agricultural land into industrial land.
To legitimately convert the agricultural land into non-agricultural land, AAII still has to submit the certificate from DA to DAR as the major requirement for land conversion.
"After we finally submit all the remaining permits, we will immediately start the physical construction of our facility," Almario said.
The construction of water treatment facility is targeted to be finished within three years after submission of permits, wherein there will be one year for detailed design planning and two years for actual facility construction.
However, Almario said AAII and Davao City Water District have already started the design planning while waiting for the permits to hasten the construction and meet the timeline.
"Upon the start of the construction, we promised to prioritize the supply of water to Cabantian area as early as possible. So once the system going to Cabantian is established, we can then provide partial water supply there while the rest of the construction is still ongoing," he said.
Almario said both Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and J.V. Angeles Construction Corporation will discuss the final preparation this month while waiting for the acquisition of the permits.