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Friday, March 29, 2024

SMC to submit P35-b bid for a new source of water

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Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is set to submit an unsolicited proposal to the government for the development of a new water source with a project cost estimated at P35 billion, its top executive said Tuesday.

“I will submit an unsolicited proposal within two weeks”•a new water source of 3,800 MLD [million liters per day],” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said.

“We will harvest this from a new source, not Angat Dam. And I think we can build this 3,000 MLD, [with] private funding [of] about P35-billion cost. [It would take] five years to build and we can sell water at P5 per cubic meter. That is so cheap. That is raw water,” said Ang.

Ang said the company wanted to help Filipino consumers to have an available and secure water supply.

“We want to help the public. It’s for the security of supply,” Ang said. He said San Miguel planned to put up the water project on its own without a partner.

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San Miguel’s P24.4-Billion Bulacan Bulk Water Supply Project, a public-private partnership project of Luzon Clean Water Development Corp. and K-Water Resources Corp., already started commercial operations. 

Ang earlier said Bulacan Bulk Water project was aimed at providing millions of residents in 24 towns of Bulacan ready access to fresh, potable surface water while balancing the competing needs of a growing population, industry, agriculture and the environment in the province. 

“The Bulacan Bulacan Bulk Water is just one of the many projects that SMC has in store under the Duterte administration,” said Ang.

He said that “with our financial resources and technical capabilities, we promise to deliver several projects that support our fast economic growth.” 

The BBWSP consists of three stages. Stage 1 covers six water districts consisting of San Jose del Monte, Marilao, Meycauayan, Bocaue, Obando and Balagtas while Stage 2 covers seven water districts consisting of Guiguinto, Calumpit, Bulakan, Plaridel, Sta. Maria, Paombong and Malolos.

Meanwhile, the construction of Stage 3 which covers the remaining 11 municipalities of Baliuag, Plaridel, Pandi, Hagonoy, San Rafael, San Miguel, Norzagaray, Angat, Dona Remedios Trinidad, San Ildefonso and Bustos, has not yet started. 

Before the construction of the BBWSP, the province of Bulacan sources water from deep wells provided by the water districts which are government-owned and-controlled corporations. In recent years, however, the deep wells are slowly running out of water.

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