MANILA — Utility firm Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) has started to supply potable water to some 800 residents at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila.
The Dubai Housing of Baseco is comprised of poor families, who used to rely on expensive water deliveries from vendors for their daily needs.
After Maynilad laid a 300-meter pipeline along Dubai Main Road to connect the community to its network, the residents now use potable surface water from Maynilad.
The pipe-laying project ended the community’s almost decade-long waterless situation, the water firm noted in a statement Thursday.
“Dati kaming nagbabayad ng mahigit PHP1,000 para sa isang buwang supply ng tubig. Ngayon, higit PHP100 na lang ang ibinayad namin sa tubig na siguradong maiinom,” Baseco resident Luz Marie Bustria said.
Residents of Baseco are among the 22 percent of Maynilad’s customer base that belong to the low-income segment, which receives subsidized water rates.
“We have always sought to provide communities with access to potable water regardless of their social standing. This is why we continue to look for ways to connect poor households. They, too, have the right to enjoy safe water at affordable rates,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez said.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is the agent and contractor of the state agency Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon in Metro Manila; and the cities of Cavite, Bacoor, and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario in Cavite province. (PR/PNA)
