Grant, loan eyed for Iloilo water

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—The national government is eyeing a grant or loan of P211 million to the Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) to address its supply and distribution problems.

In his visit to Iloilo City on Friday, President Aquino said the Local Water Utilities Administration had endorsed a request of the MIWD to the Department of Public Works and Highways for financial support to address the water supply problems of the water district.

The President said the request was “appropriate and can be done as soon as possible.”

Thousands of consumers were left waterless for three days two weeks ago after bulk water suppliers cut off supply to the MIWD over arrears.

The MIWD supplies at least 31,000 subscribers in Iloilo City and the towns of Oton, Pavia, Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan, Maasin and San Miguel.

The MIWD and the consortium of FLO Water Resources Iloilo Inc. and Prime Water Ventures are disputing computation of volume that is being used by the water district and the corresponding cost.

This stemmed from differences in the interpretation of their respective contractual obligations entered into last year.

Under the contract, the consortium provides 25,000 cubic meters of water daily through injection points. But only 15,000 cu. m. coming from the bulk water suppliers are utilized because of limitations in the MIWD’s transmission pipes.

FLO Water Resources  has insisted on the “take or pay” scheme, with the MIWD paying for the volume of water being supplied by the  consortium whether or not it is used by the water district.

But the MIWD has insisted on paying only for the volume of water that passes through its transmission pipes.

President Aquino said the supply contract had been forwarded for study to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel to interpret the contractual obligations of the two parties.

He said the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project II in Calinog town, Iloilo province, was also one of the long-term solutions to address the water supply problem.