MWSS probes alleged overpricing in Angat project

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) said yesterday that they have already started an inquiry into allegations of overpricing in the Angat Aqueduct Improvement Project Package 2.

The statement was made amidst complaints from the Philippine Large Diameter Pressure Pipe Manufacturers Association (PLDPPMA) that the project was overpriced by at least 30 percent.

The group alleged that the P1.855-billion contract for the project that the MWSS awarded to China International Water and Electric Corp. (CWE) was overvalued and that it should be rescinded by the Aquino administration.

Gerardo Esquivel, newly appointed administrator of the MWSS, said that the agency had already started their investigation. He has also invited PLDPPMA president Ramon Pastor to a dialogue on the matter.

Esquivel assured the public that all controversies involving the MWSS would be handled accordingly.

Earlier, Pastor said that the project has been in the pipeline as early as 2006 and entails replacement of the existing defective concrete pipeline that transport raw water from Angat Dam in Bulacan to the La Mesa reservoir in Quezon City.

Phase 1 of the project was done by three Filipino pipe laying contractors from the middle of 2004 to 2005 with funding provided by the Japanese government from loans from the JBIC.

But since the Chinese government through the China Export Import Bank offered financing for Phase 2 at a lower rate of 1 percent than what the Asian Development Bank and World Bank had to offer, the previous administration decided to utilize Chinese funding, the group said.

Several alleged irregularities were noted, however, according to the PLDPPMA.