A Filipino company that co-built the Casecnan power-irrigation plant has asked the government for a Full Water Permit that will allow it develop the Wawa Dam that will solve in eight months the water problem of Metro Manila.

Investors are ready to put in the needed fund to develop Wawa Dam at a cost of $600 million under a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) arrangement, if only the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) will grant the Full Water Permit.

The San Lorenzo Ruiz Builders and Developers Group Inc. (SLR-BDG) has so far secured a permit to develop Wawa Dam, but only to draw water from it over a period of only six months per year or during the rainy season. This is for 300 million liters per day (MLD).

“In eight months we can deliver 80 MLD; in two years, 900 MLD, and in four years, 1,500 MLD. But we need a Full Water Permit, so we can show this to investors,” said SLR-BDG-President Oscar I. Violago in a press briefing.

SLR-BDG was the only Filipino company in the consortium that built the co-generation plant in Casecnan in Nueva Vizcaya. A major company forming part of the Casecnan consortium is MidAmerican Energy (CalEnergy) of the US.

While the company can already start constructing the dam based on the 300 MLD permit, this will not be sufficient to attract funders that look after economies of scale of the project. Besides, the company will find it hard to supply water to Metro Manila during the dry season as it was only given a rainy season drawing permit.

Violago said that to be assured of a market, it will also need a Purchase Order from the government-run Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).

SLR-BDG secured in 2004 a permit from NWRB for the Wawa Dam development after having filed an application for this that started 17 years ago.

However, Violago said the company has encountered a conflict with Manila Water Co. Inc. (MWCI) which has been favored by the MWSS to develop Wawa Dam.

“MWSS allowed Manila Water to collect P732 million of the people’s money for the development of Wawa Dam. But Manila Water has not developed it. And when it was found out that they have already collected that money, Manila Water admitted that they collected these fees. But it just diverted the money for another project,” said Violago.

Anthony Violago, SLR-BDG executive vice president, said in the same press briefing that a complaint against MWCI is being readied for alleged collection of money originally designated for Wawa Dam and for malversation of fund.

“It was only recently that we obtained documents attesting to this collection,” he said.

In 2007, SLR-BDG has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MWSS then headed by Administrator Lorenzo H. Jamora. With such MoU, the company spent millions for a feasibility study on the Wawa Dam which it submitted to MWSS in 2008.

But the MoU has not been converted into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) so far even as MWSS is presently saying that there are problems in Wawa Dam’s development including water pollution (from piggery waste) that jacks up water treatment cost, earthquake faults, and the right to draw water for only six months.