Bids open for P19-B Kaliwa Dam project

MANILA, Philippines - The government is eyeing to have a new dam developer by next year after it started the ball rolling on Friday for the bidding of the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam project in Rizal.

PPP Center executive director Cosette V. Canilao said the government would award the water project next year, possibly within the first half at the earliest.

“Bid submission will probably be next year, but start of the bid process is this year. So prequalification first, after prequalification those who are qualified will proceed to the bidding stage,” Canilao said.

The Kaliwa Dam would serve as a secondary water source for Metro Manila once developed. At present, Metro Manila sources 97 percent of its water requirements from the Angat reservoir in Bulacan.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) on Friday started seeking prospective bidders for the P19-billion Kaliwa Dam project.

The winning bidder for the Kaliwa project would construct the 600 million-liters-per-day (MLD) dam, a 2,400 MLD water conveyance tunnel, access roads, bridges and drainage to be used in the building of the dam.

The project would be implemented under a 25-year or a 30-year build-transfer scheme, which would cover project financing and construction.

MWSS earlier said the new dam is being eyed to be completed by 2020.