Manila Water on Thursday said it has invested more than P33 billion for the past 21 years and will continue to invest P38.4 billion more until 2022 as part of the government-approved business plan to further improve sewerage and sanitation services in the East Zone.
(KEVIN TRISTAN ESPIRITU / MANILA BULLETIN)
The water concessionaire issued the statement after reading reports that the Supreme Court ordered Manila Water, Maynilad, and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) to pay a fine of more than P1.84 billion for violation of the Philippine Clean Water Act since 2009.
But Manila Water stressed that it has not received an official copy of the SC decision to-date.
“We are prepared to exercise all our legal options, including filing for a motion for reconsideration, within the prescribed time mandated by the law on receipt of the said order,” it said in a statement.
Manila Water said that to date, sewer coverage is more than 15 percent of our water-served population and 22 percent in terms of facility acceptance/capacity, a 700 percent increase from only 3 percent when we took over in 1997.
“We are accelerating various used water programs to increase coverage to 32 percent by 2022 despite persistent challenges in implementation, which include land acquisition, rights-of-way, permits and relocation of informal settlers. The biggest consideration for the government in approving these projects is the significant cost impact of these facilities on the water bill of every consumer who will eventually have to pay for these services,” it said.
“Building adequate sewerage and sanitation services while ensuring protection of our waterways and the environment in the course of our operations are of great importance. This calls for a joint and deliberate action from both the government and the concessionaires,” Manila Water added.