Maynilad to spend P1.1 billion for Manila Bay rehab

MANILA, Philippines — West zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has earmarked P1.1 billion over the next three years to help rehabilitate Manila Bay.

Maynilad said the amount would be used to rehabilitate five esteros in Manila, which are part of the waterways that drain out to Manila Bay.

The company’s Adopt an Estero initiative will cover Estero dela Reina, Estero de Sunog Apog, Estero de Magdalena, Estero de Concordia and Estero de San Antonio Abad.

Maynilad will lay around 10 kilometers of sewer lines to catch wastewater flow from Maynilad customers along creeks that cannot be served by individual sewer connections.

The collected wastewater will then be diverted to the nearest sewer network of Maynilad. The project is expected to benefit some 62,000 people.

“Even as we install the sewer lines that will prevent wastewater from flowing directly to esteros, we seek the help of all local government units to ensure that solid waste does not pollute these same esteros that we are trying to clean. This would render our investment in the wastewater infrastructure useless,” Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito Fernandez said.

Since Maynilad launched its estero rehab initiative in November 2018, it has completed the installation of 323 meters of interceptor pipes along Estero dela Reina, which already benefits over 5,300 residents in the area.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has reported significant improvements in the water quality of major outfalls directly draining into Manila Bay a year after the pollution-challenged water body started undergoing rehabilitation.

Before the rehabilitation kicked off on Jan. 26 last year, the DENR recorded extremely high fecal coliform levels from major Manila Bay outfalls.

President Duterte has allocated P42.95 billion for the implementation of the Manila Bay rehabilitation project within three years with at least 13 government agencies are working together to carry out the mission.