Govt. and BWSL reach agreement on water

They have been at loggerheads for months, but today government and Belize Water Services Limited along with its parent company, CASCAL, have announced a settlement of their differences. Just before newstime a release was received from the Press Office which outlines details of the agreement. We’ll give it to you verbatim.

“Government is pleased to announce that it has successfully concluded negotiations with CASCAL and Belize Water Services Limited. Under the agreement, CASCAL will withdraw all its claims against the Government. BWSL will abandon its demand for an immediate tariff increase and has agreed not to have any large-scale job cuts at BWSL. Government negotiators carefully reviewed the financial position of BWSL and determined that they are experiencing a severe cash shortage. In order to bridge this temporary position government has agreed to arrange a loan for BWSL of ten million dollars over the next two years. The loan will be secured over the real estate of BWSL and attract twelve percent interest. CASCAL has also agreed to lend BWSL ten million dollars over the next two years. BWSL remains committed to its capital investment programme of over one hundred forty million dollars, BWSL and the Public Utilities Commission also agreed on the framework for the regulatory environment that will apply to the water industry. It is expected that representatives from the Government, CASCAL and BWSL will meet in January to sign the formal documents.”

Another press release was issued by BWSL, which although not providing the same level of detail as the one from government, did affirm that an agreement has in fact been reached.