West zone water concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. continued its repair operations despite the enhanced community quarantine set by the government in Luzon.
In a release on Monday, Maynilad said that it has sustained its pipe repairs and other network maintenance activities to ensure stable water supply to its customers.
During the quarantine period, the water provider has repaired 244 old and leaky pipes in different places within the west zone area.
The water concessionaire added that steady water supply is important because good hygiene and sanitation are required to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Maynilad employees engaged in repair activities are required to practice typical health precautionary measures such as social distancing to protect themselves from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The water company recently announced that it added 30 days to its payment deadlines for monthly bills, on top of the 60-day grace period that it usually gives its customers. It also suspended water disconnections for overdue accounts and its meter reading and billing activities.
Maynilad also declared the implementation of average monthly billing to its customers, instead of charging for the actual amount of water used.
Since 2008, Maynilad has already repaired over 370,000 leaks under its non-revenue water (NRW) management program.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
