Small PPP may solve Ipil water woes

PERENNIAL as the grass, the water supply problem of Ipil town, this province, might be addressed not by small patches of water projects but by tapping the river to provide potable water and irrigation to at least four municipalities.

This possibility has opened as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is planning to engage in small-scale public private partnership projects that can be rolled out in less-developed provinces and municipalities.

“We will introduce what we call the smaller PPPs or the PPPP—the PPP for the People. We have big PPPs here in Metro Manila which are worth some hundreds of billions of pesos. We don’t have that in Visayas and especially in Mindanao. But we will not ask for big projects in the far-flung provinces of Mindanao and Visayas. We are talking about asking for smaller PPPs,” said DILG Secretary Ismael D. Sueno told media.

The government was looking at a range of projects—each worth a maximum of P100 million—in sectors such as renewable energy, irrigation systems, potable water, agriculture and transportation.

The interior secretary said “two weeks ago, mayors from Zamboanga Sibugay came to my office and they complained that they have no supply of potable water and irrigation water. I asked them if they have a big source of water in Zamboanga Sibugay and they told me there was a river in one of the municipalities that can provide potable water and irrigation to three to four municipalities.”

“So I told them, why don’t we establish a PPP in this area and to provide not just potable water, but also electricity or hydropower?” The DILG had established a PPP unit and had hired a consultant.

It was not immediately known if the among the mayors mentioned by Sueno was Ipil Mayor Amy Olegario. A text message sent to the office of Mayor Olegario was not returned.

But the unsolved water problem of the town indicates that it might be Mayor Olegario whom the interior secretary had alluded to.

Previous water projects of the previous administrations had tried to solve the water supply problem but to no avail. Series of water projects like developing and establishing pumping stations went to naught. The multi-million Salintubig project under the interior department also failed to address the problem permanently.

It is not yet known if solving the water supply problem of the town is one of the priority projects under the Olegario administration.

The World Bank is providing help in the form of “giving assistance in capacitating our local governments, especially in the far-flung provinces to help in putting up (the PPP) projects.”

The International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector funding arm of the World Bank group, was also reportedly willing to help finance or provide loans.

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