Government investment in water sector
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Contact: Adhara King
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 – In the ongoing public awareness campaign surrounding the issue of privatizing water services, government officials are asserting that government cannot remain as the sole investors in public utilities. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Utilities, Ben Emmanuel says government's limited resources cannot be exploited by one entity.
“We cannot devoid or remove from all of this discussion, the fact that increasingly government cannot continue itself to be the sole investor in public utilities; a public- private partnership arrangement is not unique or new to St. Lucia or to the region,” says Emmanuel.
Emmanuel says the move is necessary to allow government to ensure efficiency in water services without having to continuously burden itself with accumulating debt.
Emmanuel cited the local electricity company, which underwent a similar transition.
“LUCELEC was once a company owned completely by the government, but of course it was divested to encourage and invite private sector participation. So what is happening in the water sector is not new. Government cannot continue without an increased burden on tax-payers to provide the type of investment capital that is required for the expansion, the growth and the sustainable development of the water service.”
Emmanuel echoed the underlying fact that the fundamental requirement of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for the water sector is to ensure that St. Lucia has the capacity to provide reliable, sustainable and affordable water services to meet the increasing demands of the public. |
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