Manila Water, PTA tie up for Boracay water project

MANILA, Philippines - Boracay Island Water Co. Inc. (BIWC), a joint venture between Ayala-led utility firm Manila Water Co. Inc. and the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) was granted a certificate of incorporation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Initially capitalized at P300 million, BIWC bagged a 25-year contract to operate and manage the water and sewerage services system on Boracay Island. The contract is renewable for another 25 years.

Manila Water owns 80 percent of BIWC while the remaining 20 percent is held by the PTA.

Total cost for the 25-year undertaking in Boraca was initially estimated at P1.2 billion. Of this amount, P1 billion will be invested in the first year alone to boost water supply capacity from the present two million liters a day to six million liters daily.

BIWC will spend an initial P250 million to upgrade PTA’s two water pumping stations and lay 8.5 kilometers of pipes to make clean water available to Boracay residents and tourists 24 hours a day.

At present, there are 3,500 water connections, 700 of which are owned by commercial establishments in Boracay.

Manila Water currently has an existing concession in the East Zone of Metro Manila with a customer base of around 5.6 million people. Since the start of operations in 1997, the company has already increased 24-hour water coverage to 99 percent from 26 percent and reduced water losses from 63 percent to less than 20 percent at present.

Sewerage coverage in the East concession area has likewise increased by more than 500 percent from only three percent at the start of the concession period to 16 percent at yearend 2008.

Manila Water has acquired 100 percent of AAA Water Corp., which services the water requirements of the entire Cabuyao, STa. Rosa city and Binan areas.

Overseas, Manila Water’s portfolio include projects in Tiripur, India and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.