• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The provincial government has moved the bidding for the proposed P1.2-billion Negros Occidental Bulk Water Supply Project (NBWSP) to Oct. 28 this year upon the request of the bidders, Provincial Legal Officer Alberto Nellas Jr. said on Friday (June 28).
Nellas said that almost all of the interested bidders requested for an extension as they wanted more time to come up with good proposals.
Initially, the bidding was set on Thursday to accommodate a lone bidder, which was given until 1 p.m. for the submission of bid documents.
When the bidder did not drop a bid, Nellas said they granted the request for an extension by majority of the bidders.
The NBWSP involves the financing, engineering design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a bulk water supply system with a minimum capacity of 34.5 million liters/day (MLD) to be sourced from the Imbang River and/or Malogo River.
It is expected to supply treated bulk water to six water service providers in the cities of Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, and Victorias and the municipalities of Manapla, and E.B. Magalona.
Except for Silay City, the municipalities of Manapla and E.B. Magalona, cities of Victorias, Talisay and highly urbanized city of Bacolod, have already issued a resolution of no objection (RONO) for the project.
Nellas said that they were informed by the Silay City Council that they will hold another committee hearing with the business and agricultural sectors before taking any action on the RONO.
Mayor Joedith Gallego earlier said that they are not in favor of the move of the provincial government to tap the surface water of Imbang River, claiming that it will affect their sources of water.
Based on the certificate of water availability issued by NWRB, about 100 MLD will be sourced from the Malogo River, and 34 to 36 MLD will also be generated from the Imbang River, said lawyer Jessa Genteroles, provincial government focal person for public-private partnership projects.
While the Malogo River is the main intake point, the province included Imbang River because of its proximity to the cities of Silay, Talisay and Bacolod, Nellas said.
Without Imbang River water, they have enough source of water from Malogo River to be tapped for the bulk water supply project, he added. | GB
