Razon-led Manila Water Co. Inc. will finally provide supply for the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD), this time through Manila Water Philippine Ventures Inc. (MWPV), two months after the cancellation of a previous contract executed by another subsidiary.

In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, Manila Water said the agreement would cover 10 years.Under the new deal, MWPV will provide 30,000 liters of surface water daily at P58 per cubic meter in the first five years.

A rate increase of 10 percent to 12 percent will be applied in the succeeding five years.

To recall, Manila Water subsidiary Cebu Manila Water Development Inc. terminated last Dec. 1 its bulk water supply contract with MCWD, a government-owned and -controlled corporation that provides water supply in Cebu province. It did not provide further details on the matter.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia had said the provincial government opted to instead enter into a two-month direct agreement with MCWD to prevent supply shortage.

MCWD currently produces at least 232,000 cubic meters of water daily to serve over 190,000 service connections in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Lapu-Lapu, and the municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Cordova. On Jan. 29, Manila Water also hinted at the renewal of its supply deal with the provincial government of Pangasinan after terminating their previous agreement in December.

Manila Water said it had reached out to the provincial government, adding that they “remain open to explore partnership on water supply for the province.” INQ