AS OF July 2018, the land conversion permit and other permits necessary for the development of the Davao City Bulk Water Supply Project had already been completed, while they target to do a construction kick-off before the year ends, said an executive of Apo Agua Infrastructura, Inc.
It was reported early this year that Apo Agua is processing the land conversion permit necessary to convert the 6.8-hectare land property in Barangay Gumalang, Baguio District from an agricultural to industrial land as it is the site where the water treatment plant of Apo Agua and Davao City Water District (DCWD) will be put up.
“Preparation works have also been started. Our team has also already set up temporary facility and barracks in the area. As for the design, we are almost finished with it and we target to have it completed by first quarter of next year. Now, we are on the procurement of materials,” said Apo Agua General Manager Cirilo C. Almario III during the BizForum press conference held on Tuesday, October 16, at Dermpath, SM City Davao.
Almario also said 170 contracts, or about 92 percent of the entire number of affected landowners, were signed by landowners allowing Apo Agua operation on their lands. He said they are still currently on track to meeting their target start of operation by the first half of 2021.
The Bulk Water Supply Project is divided into two components with the first part, costing about P10 billion, undertaken by Apo Agua. This includes the construction of intake facilities, a water treatment facility, and treated water pipelines.
The second part of the project, undertaken by DCWD, costs P2 billion and involves the tapping and interconnecting of pipes, installation of reservoirs and laying of distribution lines.
DCWD spokesperson Bernard Delima said out of the 30 projects by DCWD involved in this Bulk Water Supply Project, there are already nine completed and currently operational, another nine that are completed but are not yet being used, four ongoing project completion, while the remaining seven are undergoing detailed engineering and planning stages.
“We target all 30 projects to be completed by 2020 so we won’t have a problem receiving Apo Agua by 2021,” Delima said.
Once completed and already fully operational, the Bulk Water Supply Project will supply treated water to five existing water systems of DCWD including Dumoy, Calinan, Tugbok, Panacan, and Cabantian. It will also have three additional water systems Talandang, Mandug, and Indangan.