By RALPH JOHN MIJARES
ROXAS City — The Metro Roxas Water District (MRWD) has incurred more than a billion pesos worth of debt, its general manager revealed.
As of March 31, MRWD has a debt of P1,089,737,518.95 and has been paying some P10 million in monthly interest, said Gonzalo Glen Delgado.
Most of the amount, Delgado said, was spent for the water distribution facility’s expansion and development projects.
The general manager also disclosed that MRWD is “operating at a loss,” with its monthly collections enough only for its operational expenses.
Composing a bulk of the water district’s expenses is its electricity consumption, Delgado said.
MRWD pays the Capiz Electric Cooperative about P3.8 million a month for the electricity used by its water treatment plant in Sitio Paslang, Brgy. Salocon, Panitan town alone, he said.
In January 2000, the water district’s then Board of Directors entered into a loan worth P710 million with the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) for its expansion and development projects, said Dante Arcangeles, MRWD information officer.
It later acquired another P193 million after it was found that more funds were needed, he said.
Arcangeles said MRWD’s current loan balance is composed of the principal loan and the accumulated interest.
When LWUA took control of MRWD in March 2005, the water district did not pay its loans for five years — from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2010 — to save money, the information officer said.
Delgado, the general manager, assured that the water district does not pass the loan payment on to the consumers. He stressed that consumers are charged based only on their monthly water consumption.
MRWD is also trying to get loan takeouts to reduce its loan balance.
A loan takeout is done when a bank pays the principal amount on behalf of the payer and charges the latter with interest lower than what the original payee collects, Delgado said./PN
