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Freedom from Debt Coalition yesterday expressed relief on the decision of the Metro Cebu Water District to reject the Ayala-Stateland consortium’s multi-billion-peso proposed Carmen Bulk Water Project.

However, the group believes that the recent move by the management of the water district might only be temporary because MCWD will be looking for other sources of water through the private sector.

“MCWD’s rejection of Ayala’s proposal is only a temporary setback for private bulk water suppliers because it will eventually look for other suppliers who will undertake the project minus the P200-million development cost,” Lito Vasquez, secretary general of FDC-Cebu, said.

Vasquez explained that they are against the tapping of private companies to supply water to the water district because they are expensive ventures to ordinary water consumers due to the take-or-pay provisions and the automatic adjustments within the project duration.

Aside from Ayala, he said that Atlas Mining in Toledo City is also planning to supply bulk water to MCWD of almost the same amount Ayala plans to sell to the water district.

On May 10, the MCWD management sent a letter to the Ayala-led consortium terminating the negotiations on the proposal, which is aimed at supplying additional 50,000 cubic meters of water to the water district’s 1.5 million customers, citing unresolved issues on the P200-million development cost, which the proponent wishes to be reimbursed in the event it losses the bidding.

Last March 21, MCWD general manager Armando Paredes also wrote Sherisa Nuesa, chief finance officer of the Manila Water Co. Inc., the biggest investor in the consortium, saying the project failed to secure a notice of acceptance, therefore “it is now deemed rejected by the Metro Cebu Water District.”

The Carmen Bulk Water Project is an unsolicited build-operate-transfer (BOT) venture involving construction of 30-kilometer pipeline from Carmen to Cebu City to augment the existing water supply of the water district.

But Vasquez said that their concern is more than the issue of unresolved development cost. “Our concern is its impact to the consumers,” he said.

He explained that the P25.55 per-cubic-meter price of water that the consortium wants to sell to MCWD is too expensive, not only for the water district but also for the end consumers.

 Likewise, Vasquez said that consumers in the south of Metro Cebu would not enjoy the water coming from Carmen because the distribution pipes that would be used are too small.

Vasquez added that the fact that MCWD granted Ayala’s request for reconsideration, there is no reason to celebrate yet because the water district has not totally junked the proposed project.

“They are giving Ayala enough room to make adjustment and a chance to win the bidding,” he said. — Wenna A. Berondo/MEEV