Aquino eyes Angat rehab to solve water shortage

The Aquino administration is looking at proposals from the private sector to address the current water shortage in Metro Manila. President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III said both foreign and local investors expressed last week their willingness to help address the water shortage by helping rehabilitate the Angat Dam in Bulacan province. Aquino said he was told that one of the reasons why the dam's water supply remained at critical level despite Typhoon Basyang was because of "leaks." "That's one of the proposals by private investors, to do the rehabilitation work," Aquino said in an ambush interview in Malacañang.

He said the proposal is still being studied, along with other options to address the water shortage. Maynilad Water Services Inc. last week announced that their customers will experience disruptions in their water supply due to low water level from Angat Dam. The multipurpose reservoir of Angat Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan, provides 97 percent of the domestic water supply of Metro Manila and irrigates about 27,000 hectares of rice land in the province. Despite the water shortage, Aquino said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Department of Transportation and Communication have not declared a water crisis. He said he would still talk to Cabinet members about their next steps in solving the problem. - KBK, GMANews.TV