Manila wastewater plant date brought forward

Residents of Manila will benefit from a proposed wastewater plant sooner than expected, it has been revealed.

The announcement was made after natural resources secretary Lito Atienza pushed for the construction to be brought forward to 2016, rather than in 20 years time, philstar.com reported.

Mr Atienza commented that this event marks a "big, big improvement" from the previous deadline and said that the current system provides low-quality water and "serves as a septic tank for the metropolis".

"The importance of this wastewater treatment plant is that without this any cleanup of Manila Bay, Pasig River and Laguna de Bay will not succeed," he continued.

Manila Water said it was willing to bring the deadline forward after the secretary continually contacted them about the subject, citing legal and moral factors as the major reasons for an acceleration of the project.

One country that has been praised for its wastewater efforts is Brazil, which Marketwatch.com reported is currently a model example for other countries to take into account.