About 16,000 households in ten towns within the third district of Camarines Sur in the Philippines now enjoy fresh drinking water thanks to a Danish funded and managed water utility project. Construction of the water utility project started last year and is now practically fully implemented. In the two big towns of Lagonoy and San Jose, where the construction of treatment facilities and pipelines first started in 24 sites, the project was already completed by the end of last year.
The water utility project has been funded with a mixed credit from the Danish government worth 15 million dollars or 750 million pesos. The Danish mixed credit facility is granted through the Danish International Development Agency as an interest-free loan to be paid back within 10 years upon operation. The financial assistance was granted to the Partido Development Authority (PDA) and signed by the Minsitry of Finance.
Apart from financing the project, the Danish government has also provided consultants to undertake the technical development of the project using Danish technology. According to Mr. San Jose, PDA Administrator, half of the materials and technology has been provided by the Danish government as stipulated in the project agreement but the rst has been sourced locally.
“With 50 percent of the materials bought here, the Philippine economy has also benefited by at least 350 million pesos from the project,” San Jose said. The Partido Development Authority has also provides manpower and salaries of personnel involved in the project except for the Danish consultants.
The 16,000 households are estimated each to consume at least 20 cubic meters of water per month. The PDA will charge 9.50 pesos per cubic meter until the loan from the Danish government has been paid.
