BUTUAN CITY, Philippines—The Butuan City Water District (BCWD) has expressed confidence that the Taguibo Water Supply Development project, a private-public partnership (PPP) endeavor, would provide a reliable and uninterrupted supply of potable water for nearly 40,000 concessionaires.
“This PPP project is not a stopgap measure or a band-aid solution to the present water issue being faced by the city. It is a sustainable, cost-effective project that would provide clean water to every Butuanon 24 hours a day,” said BCWD spokesperson Ramil Barquin. Moreover, it is tagged as the ultimate solution to the city’s perennial water problem.
No cost
Currently, BCWD is able to produce only about 70 percent of its capacity after Typhoon “Seniang” and attempts to sabotage BCWD facilities affected the utility’s operations.
Barquin said the main feature of the project is that its design and ongoing construction did not cost BCWD anything.
BCWD would pay a fee to its private sector partner but this would not result in water rate increases, said Barquin.
The original fee was P14.5 per cubic meter but BCWD’s private partner agreed to BCWD’s request to lower the price further to P11 per cubic meter for the first three years and P14.5 in the next two years.
Succeeding rate adjustments shall be based on prevailing consumer price index.
“BCWD needs the support of every sector in Butuan and none of the disinformation being floated around so that we can fast-track the completion of this undertaking whose construction would not cost the government a single centavo while ensuring the people of Butuan affordable water rates,” Barquin said.
“How does one make more transparent something that is as clear as a glass of drinking water? It’s just unfortunate that some just want to muddle the issue,” he said.
He said there was no need for the city mayor, Ferdinand Amante Jr., to call for transparency on the project because the “PPP undertaking has been aboveboard and open to scrutiny from day one.”
Swiss challenge
Barquin said from 2011 onwards, BCWD and the project’s private sector proponent, Taguibo Aquatech Solutions Corp., completed all financial, environmental and government requirements and documents that are now all part of public record.
He said a Swiss challenge had been held in February 2013, “duly published in a national daily, but no qualified bidder surfaced to contest the original proposal that had been given a favorable opinion by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.”
Amante had been quoted previously as saying city councilors—Sergio Pascual, Ryan Anthony Culima and Ferdinand Nalcot—were demanding a copy of the PPP agreement.
Long-term solution
Amante’s brother, Councilor Sammy Amante, and Vice Mayor Angelo Calo had also criticized the project.
Pascual had sought an injunction against BCWD but a court dismissed it for lack of merit.
Some of the politicians are said to favor some contractors for the project, including one group of South Korean investors.
Typhoon Seniang in December last year caused BCWD to lose 40 percent of its capacity with a suspected act of sabotage causing sand and debris to clog its infiltration gallery in the Taguibo River.
BCWD said the ultimate, long-term solution is for the PPP project to be operational.