Friday, September 11, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

MAYNILAD WATER Services, Inc. said yesterday it has extended water coverage to about 216,000 indigent households under the company’s "Bayan Tubig" project. Maynilad said the number was a significant jump from 110,000 in 2007, or three years since the takeover of new owners DMCI Holdings, Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Under the program, Maynilad partners with community leaders in mobilizing residents that the company could not serve under regular terms due to land-ownership problems. Maynilad also offers a flexible, long-term payment scheme for water service applications to provide low-income families with access to clean, affordable and potable water. Maynilad recently sought a 15-year term extension for its concession agreement with the government. The extension will allow the company to increase its investments to P506 billion from P206 billion and expand community development projects. Maynilad also vowed to reduce future tariff increases by as much as 75%. DMCI Holdings and Metro Pacific bought the utility when it was re-privatized by the government in 2007 after the Lopezes, the company’s original owners, returned the franchise to the government two years earlier.