Rehab of Manila Bay gets help from SoKor city

FILE: BATTLE FOR MANILA BAY. The Manila Bay Interagency Task Force, led by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, supervises the first day of the clean-up program to rehabilitate Manila Bay, at the Manila Yacht Club in Roxas Boulevard on Sunday (Jan. 27, 2019). Various sectors joined the first phase of the interagency effort to bring back the pristine waters of Manila Bay. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA–The rehabilitation of Manila Bay will get a boost as the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) will collaborate with a South Korean city to address the problem on wastewater treatment.

MWSS Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco will meet with Daegu Metropolitan City officials at the Makati Diamond Residences in Makati City on Thursday to discuss the matter.

A delegation from Daegu will be attending the Asia Water Council (AWC) Board of Council meeting in Manila on March 14-15.

The MWSS is hosting the event with its concessionaires Manila Water, Maynilad and Luzon Clean Water Development Corporation.

Top officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and lawmakers from both houses of Congress are expected to attend the conference.

Velasco said the cooperation with Daegu can be explored in the following areas: Manila Bay clean-up; Three-River System Improvement Program; improved treatment technology and design capacity for Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs); upgrade of Central Manila Sewerage System; setting-up of wastewater treatment facilities in defined catchment areas and major interceptor lines; and adoption of a creek and drainage outflow interception.

Daegu officials also expressed interest in collaborating on programs that address standard-setting, sewer ordinance and policymaking and continuous awareness campaign on water reuse, Velasco said.

The meeting will follow through the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between MWSS and Daegu Metropolitan City signed last year by Velasco and Daegu Mayor Young Jin Kwon.

As stipulated in the MOU, MWSS and Daegu will, among other things, work together to develop technical solutions for water resources-related challenges and share strategic technologies in connection with water and sewerage system.

Velasco welcomed the signing of the MOU as it afforded MWSS the opportunity to tap Daegu Environmental Corp. to serve as third party consultant and help assess the overall sewerage and wastewater management system in Metro Manila.

“I look forward to my meeting with the delegation from Daegu to discuss areas and programs where collaborative efforts for the attainment of water and sanitation goals can be employed,” Velasco said.

Before the signing of the MOU, a delegation from Daegu Metropolitan City, led by Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Yon Chang Kim, submitted a proposal for government-to-government cooperation support for advanced water technology demand area; improvement of inefficient operation of water purification plant and sewage treatment plant; improper sewage discharge system improvement; and installation of water purification system.

The proposal was officially submitted following the successful visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to South Korea in June last year.