Announcement of Philippines to Expand Water Supply in Manila Area on October 6, 1989

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE /\/orld Bank .6 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. * Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 90/13 Contact: P.B. Sison (202) 477-4347 Leandro V. Coronel (202) 477-3641 PHILIPPINES TO EXPAND WATER SUPPLY IN MANILA AREA WASHINGTON, October 6, 1989 -- A greater number of residents in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, and neighboring municipalities will have access to piped water through a project designed to maximize the use of water resources from the Angat Multipurpose Dam and expand distribution facilities. The World Bank is supporting the project with a loan of $40 million. The project seeks to eliminate water rationing and low pressures for about 5 million people and provide house connections to more than 3 million people, most of them poor, by the year 2000. Water supply to Manila and 36 neighboring municipalities is provided by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS). The area serviced by O MWSS covers about 150,000 hectares and has a population of 9 million. The region is the Philippines' commercial center and has about half of the country's industrial base. The project includes constructing water transmission, treatment and distribution facilities. The project also aims at improving the efficiency of MWSS's operations and strengthening the agency's finances, planning and management information system. New house connections to be provided under the project will free the urban poor, particularly women, from the daily task of collecting water from various sources. Estimates show that, annually, unconnected residents carry 65 metric tons of water per family. The six-year project is estimated to cost $362 million. The Asian Development Bank is providing financing equivalent to $130 million; the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan, $80 million; MWSS, $35 million; and local loans and Philippine government contributions, $77 million. The World Bank loan is for 20 years, including five years' grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.74 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents. S