Maynilad gets $137.5-M loan; looking at projects in Munti

MANILA, Philippines — World Bank has granted a $137.5 million loan to a water concessionaire to partially finance its wastewater treatment projects which will start construction this year.

Engineer Tony Garcia, head of West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad), said the loan will help accelerate the construction of sewerage and sanitation infrastructure to improve the environmental, sanitation and health conditions in Maynilad’s concession area.

Maynilad said it plans to build 13 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) until 2015, but only four of the 13 will be funded by the loan secured from the World Bank. These include the Talayan STP in the San Juan River Basin Project and STPs on Valenzuela, Pasay and Muntinlupa. Other projects that would benefit from the loan include the rehabilitation of the Alabang STP and the South Septage Treatment Plant.

The four projects to be funded by the loan from World Bank will have a total capacity of 187,500 cubic meters per day and will serve about 300,000 households in Quezon City, Pasay, Valenzuela and Muntinlupa.

The $137.5-million loan is part of the $275-million World Bank loan that will be divided between the two concessionaires of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

A sovereign guarantee which the Philippine Government has issued is required for the loan to be processed. “We are accelerating the construction of our STPs for the benefit of the environment and our customers,” Maynilad President and CEO Ricky Vargas said.

He lauded the government’s move as “a testament on how vital Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) augurs well for the growth of the economy.”

Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is a concessionaire of the MWSS for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (all but portions of San Andres and Sta. Ana), Quezon City (west of San Juan River, West Avenue, EDSA, Congressional, Mindanao Avenue, the northern part starting from the districts of the Holy Spirit and Batasan Hills), Makati (west of South Superhighway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; Cavite City, and the towns of Bacoor, Imus, Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite province.