By Madelaine B. Miraflor
For this year, as much as P9 billion in capital expenditure (capex) will be used by West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) to build its water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
To continue enhancing water supply and pressure in the West Zone, two-thirds of Maynilad's capex amount, or around P6.5 billion, will particularly go to the water infrastructure projects.
Portion of the P6.5 billion has been specifically earmarked for water sources, operations support, and service expansion programs, which include the rehabilitation of water network facilities, upgrade and construction of pumping stations and reservoirs for better supply and pressure management; installation of new primary, secondary and tertiary pipelines for water service expansion; and enhancements on the Common-Purpose Facility, Ipo Dam.
Some of the fund has also been allotted for Maynilad’s water loss recovery or Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Management program. This covers meter management, leak detection and repair, pipe replacements, and District Metered Area management.
Meanwhile, about R1.7 billion of Maynilad’s R9-billion capex budget for 2018 will be spent for wastewater management projects to increase sewerage coverage and maintain network reliability.
Maynilad said the amount will be used for the construction of a sewer network for the Sewage Treatment Plants in Las Piñas and Muntinlupa, installation of new sewer service connections, and maintenance of the existing sewer network.
The rest of the budget will go to the company’s customer service and information program, which covers the modernization of data management and information systems that will help improve service delivery.
“Our record investments have contributed significantly to the government's job generation efforts while also improving water services for our over 9 million customers. We will continue on this track so we can sustain service level improvements in the West Zone," said Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez.
To be exact, the water company expects to generate over 26,000 jobs from its R9-billion capex program this year.
Funding for Maynilad’s infrastructure investments will come from local and international bank loans, as well as from internally generated funds.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is the agent and contractor of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.