Friday, 23 October 2009 00:00 [ manilatimes.net ]
Maynilad Water Services Inc. on Thursday announced that the government has approved the extension of its distribution contract for Metro Manila’s east concession.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Manila Water said the Department of Finance approved the 15-year extension of its concession agreement with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
“The approval of the DOF confirms the government’s guarantee of its contractual obligation relative to the extension. MWCI has officially received the signed copy and corresponding documents to this effect and shall now proceed to complete its own contractual obligations,” the Ayala-led firm said.
Manila Water is currently undertaking a service improvement program for water supply, sewerage and sanitation in its service areas that include Mandaluyong, Pasig, San Juan, Marikina, Pateros, Makati, southeastern part of Quezon City and parts of Manila.
The company is also supplying water to residents of Taguig, Antipolo, San Mateo, Rodriguez, Cainta, Taytay and Angono. It also started providing services to the towns of Baras, Binangonan and Jalajala in Rizal.
Manila Water has moved the implementation of its rate adjustment from October 2 to November 1 to help consumers recover from the devastation caused by Typhoon Ondoy.
The Ayala-led company said it has to adjust rates due to the foreign currency differential adjustment (FCDA) component of the water bills of Manila Water customers.
FCDA is a tariff mechanism that was formulated to recover or account for foreign exchange losses or gains arising from the payment by the concessionaires of foreign currency denominated concession fees to the
MWSS as well as loans for their service expansion and improvement.
MWSS allowed Manila Water to adjust its FCDA component from 1 percent to 1.89 percent of the basic charge of P0.21 to P0.40 per cubic meter, or an increase of P0.19 per cubic meter.
Chino S. Leyco
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