AN OFFICIAL of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) is confident that Je Hydro and Bio-Energy Corp. can start its desalination project within 18 months after having submitted all the necessary documents.
Jose Daluz III, chairman of MCWD, said documents for the joint venture agreement for the project are now at the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) for review.
Daluz said Je Hydro will be issued a notice to proceed with the desalination project that will convert saltwater into drinking water once the joint venture agreement gets approval from the OGCC.
The MCWD chair said with the long processing time a joint venture has to undergo, since it still has to go through the OGCC, he was now considering just having the project undergo public bidding instead.
He said work by the contractor to build two reservoirs in Barangay Busay that will store the water sourced from Barangay Lusaran, estimated at 30 million liters per day (MLD), was ongoing.
The project had initially been expected to start benefiting 20,000 households this May.
Also pending OGCC approval is MCWD’s project with FDC Utilities Inc. which, in partnership with Hitachi Aqua-Tech Engineering Pte. Ltd., will put up desalination plants in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City to produce 30 MLD of water each, and in Talisay City to produce 20 MLD of water. (PAC, CTL)