PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. said Thursday it has 75 joint venture agreements with local water districts and select local government units (LGUs), executed from 2013 to 2022, across the Philippines.
“All agreements were processed in accordance with the National Economic and Development Authority [NEDA] guidelines and were approved by the respective local water districts as the implementing government entities,” the company, led by the Villar family, said in a statement.
PrimeWater said these joint ventures passed the review and clearance of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.
“The Department of Public Works and Highways [DPWH] is not part of the approving process,” the company said, to deny reports that incumber Senator and former DPWH Secretary Mark Villar had something to do with the approval of the contracts.
Villar denied in a statement that he had any participation in joint venture agreements (JVAs) entered into by PrimeWater and various local water districts facilitated through the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), when it was still an attached agency of the DPWH.
“I wish to take this opportunity to clarify that I have no direct or indirect ownership or controlling interest in PrimeWater,” Villar said in a statement.
“During my tenure as Secretary of Public Works, I did not participate in any capacity whatsoever in any transactions or potential transactions between PrimeWater and any of its partner districts. My focus then had been to implement our national goal of creating critical community infrastructure,” the senator said.
