Two water firms to serve the islands

CEBU, Philippines – To help improve the country’s infrastructure state, two water resource technology and distribution providers recently kicked off a nationwide venture to address the water scarcity problem in the country, especially the islands that possess tourism potential.

Mactan Rock Industries and Pilipinas Water Resources Inc (PWRI) jointly ventured into water supply solution problems in the outskirt municipalities of Visayas and Mindanao, following the success of the “Barangayan” water projects in Cebu.

Mactan Rock and PWRI chairman Antonio P. Tompar said the two companies will spend another P70 million in this nationwide project, initially providing community water supply facilities in El Nido (Palawan), Municipality of Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte, and in the Municipality of Aracelli in Northern Palawan.

“These areas have huge commercial and tourism potentials. We are providing them with water supply by tapping their water-bank resources and bring water directly to the households,” said Tompar in an interview yesterday.

Mactan Rock and PWRI are Cebu-based companies, which primarily aim to provide ample and affordable water supply to barangays or towns wherein water system facilities are not readily available.

Initially, Tompar said as part of the companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), residents of these three pilot areas, El Nido, Cabadbaran and Aracelli, will be given free water supply for one month.

In partnership with the respective LGUs, Tompar said the companies will set up good water resource technology facility, either tapping ground river resource, or surface water, or desalination technology, just make water amply available to the residents and commercial entities.

“Water supply should not be a problem. We have wide resources, even in the islands,” Tompar said.

In Cebu, he said Mactan Rock had been doing the “Barangayan” water supply concept for the last 15 years, and introduced affordable desalination water source alternative specifically in the islands, like Mactan.

In the “Barangayan” water supply concept, Mactan Rock and PWRI served bulk water supply for a certain community, these companies then partner with LGU and a cooperative for the distribution operations.

According to Tompar, investors’ first priority in considering a possible area for investments is the availability of basic infrastructure like water and power. Scarcity or shortage of one of these priority needs could hamper an areas’ potential for development.

In a recently released initial survey result of World Competitiveness Yearbook published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), it showed that the Philippines’ poor infrastructure set-up has pushed down further the country’s competitiveness ranking compared to other 57 economies/countries in the world.

Basic infrastructure not just road, but also ample supply of water and power are two of the country’s weaknesses.

Aside from these areas that are identified as the target project destination for community-based water supply program of the two companies, Tompar said they are also working on similar programs in other island destinations, like in Panglao, Bohol, among others. — Ehda M. Dagooc