BACOLOD City Water District (Baciwa) chair Lorendo Dilag said Baciwa needs P2 billion for expansion and development to answer the needs of the ever increasing population, sprouting subdivisions and business establishments in Bacolod City.
This is the reason why the water district opened for public private partnership and joint venture agreements.
Dilag pointed out that Baciwa does not receive any subsidy from the government and has no funds estimated in the sum of P2 billion according to the five-year strategic plan of 2016 for expansion and development.
Baciwa is not a losing business. It has more than enough money for operation, maintenance and servicing its contracted loans and debts, Dilag clarified.
Three companies submitted unsolicited proposals to Baciwa namely; Metropacific of the Pangilinan Group, Prime Water of the Villar Group, Manila Waters of the Ayala Group in consortium with Tubig Pilipinas.
Dilag said that this will be evaluated one after the other according to the first in time rule of the 2013 NEDA Guidelines on Joint Venture. Metro Pacific was first evaluated and was disqualified. The second proponent Prime Water passed the legal, financial stage and the Terms of Reference along with the other tendered documents now being prepared for bidding and competitive challenge.
He added that all qualified interested parties will be invited to participate in this bidding and should Prime Water lose in the competitive challenge , the winning interested party shall be given the award for the joint venture agreement and not Prime Water which is the losing bidder.
Thus, it is premature or at most speculative on Amlig Tubig to harp or focus on Prime Water as the final awardee to this joint venture agreement as the same could not yet be determined, Dilag further clarified.
Dilag made the clarification in answer to Amlig Tubig’s issue that the government is mandated to provide basic services to the public, to protect and conserve its resources for the common good.
Dilag said that even in developed country they cannot provide free electricity/free water/free Wi-Fi to all its citizens. All those services asked for “free” is not available for free. So if the government wants to provide all those services for free to its citizens they need money. The cost of running a country and providing services, maintaining a military, supporting and repairing the infrastructure, and all the other essential functions of the government are immensely expensive. (TDE)