The project consists of financing the 2002-2005 investment program of MWCI, the concessionaire for Metro Manila East. In 1997, MWCI won a competitive tender to operate the Metro Manila East service zone (1997 population: 4.5 million) under a 25-year concession agreement. It inherited facilities that require significant rehabilitation and to date MWCI has spent approximately US$20 million for its own capital expenditures and close to US$60 million in projects funded through multilateral loans to MWSS. Upon commencement of operations, MWCI delivered an average of 440 millions of liters per day (MLD) to 325,000 households. Billed volume in the last 4 years has increased 70% to 750 MLD in December 2001. During the same period the number of households served has gone up to 428,000 and the population served has increased from 3.0 million to 4.05 million (from 70 percent to 89 percent). Water availability has also gone up during the last 4 years. The percentage of areas that have 24-hour access to water has increased from 26 percent in 1997 to 55 percent in 2001.