CLARK FREEPORT—Clark Development Corporation and the Clark Water Corporation have reached amenable terms of agreement on the implementation of the approved Compliance Action Plan of the CWC, which is required under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Department Administrative Order 2016-08.
After CWC signified and conformed to the terms and conditions of CDC on the implementation of the CAP, the state-owned corporation is set to issue a Notice to Proceed to CWC to carry out its approved plan.
The terms stipulated in the agreement aims to ensure that the cost competitiveness in doing business in this Freeport will be upheld.
In a letter by CDC to CWC, the state-owned firm underscored the need to maintain “balance among all stakeholders and accept a tariff that is just for all locators in the Clark Freeport Zone with the end view of maintaining a competitive environment,” the CDC said.
As part of the terms agreed upon, the Sewage Treatment Plant capacity in the Freeport will be at 25 MLD, compliant with the DA0 2016-08 standards, while the water and wastewater tariff adjustment is capped at P4.35 per cubic meter inclusive of all related incidental and miscellaneous charges.
The final tariff adjustment, which may be lower than P4.35 per cubic meter, will also be determined by CDC and CWC after the review and evaluation of the cost estimates and Detailed Engineering Design that will be submitted by CWC. Accordingly, the tariff increases will be implemented on a staggered basis in the next four years.
Meanwhile, on the future proposal of an increase in wastewater rates, it was specified that it would only be considered if such increase was due to the proposed increase in STP capacity and would be subject to separate negotiations in accordance with the terms of the Concession Agreement and under the principle that the chosen technology is considered to be the most cost-effective option available.