LWUA to invest P3.6-B for provincial water projects

QUEZON CITY — Responding to the call of President Arroyo to improve further the access of the Filipinos in the provinces to safe water, the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) will invest some P3.6 billion for various water supply construction, improvement and expansion projects in the countryside this year.

This was bared by LWUA Administrator Lorenzo H. Jamora who also said that the government water developmental agency has targeted the completion of 86 major water supply projects in as many provincial areas nationwide to provide access to safe piped potable water to an additional 400,000 people in the countryside by the end of the current year.

Jamora also said that LWUA has targeted the collection of P1.27 billion on water district loans and the further bolstering of the operational efficiency and financial viability of water districts through the reduction of their non-revenue water and improved marketing and water bills collection.

Jamora said that of the total target project investment of P3.61 billion, more than two-thirds or P2.37 billion will be sourced from official development assistance (ODA) funds through foreign banks and aid agencies while the balance of about P1.24 billion will be generated from local funding sources, including about P658 million as National Government subsidy/equity counterpart and P500 million from LWUA’s standby loan with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP). LWUA will invest about P72 million from its own internal cash generation and another P15.4 million from earning of its previous year’s capital investment program.

Jamora said LWUA has outstanding agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Australian Agency for International Development (AustAid), the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KFW) of Germany and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the various project packages for the water districts in the country. These agencies will account for the P2.37 billion of this year’s target project investment of P3.54 billion for foreign-assisted projects of water districts nationwide.

These project packages are JBIC’s 19th, 20th and 21st Yen packages otherwise known as the Provincial Cities Water Supply Project with total target project investment of P1.7 billion, including local counterparts this year; JICA’s Water Quality Improvement for Local Areas Project, P491.5 million; ADB Small Towns Water Supply Sector Project, P1 billion; KFW’s Provincial Towns Water Supply Programs I and II, P135 million and Baguio AustAid project, P204.9 million.