Aguas de la Rivera S.A.

concluded

In August 2002 the municipality of Ponedera (the Atlantico department) awarded a 10-year management contract for its water and sewerage services to private consortium, Aguas de la Rivera S.A. The contract covered operation and maintenance of the existing water system. By the second year of operation, the operator was to provide water services 20 hours per day to 95% of the municipality's residents. At the same time, the operator was expected to provide sewerage services to 70% of the residents. The service area for the water utility had some 9,100 residents. Aguas de la Rivera S.A. was a consortium formed by Colombian construction firms. The names of these firms were not publicly available. The contract was awarded to the bidder that requested the lowest one-time subsidy for investment. Project financing for the total US$1.2 million was provided by the federal government (US$0.6 million) and the municipal government (US$0.7 million). The private operator was responsible for financing any maintenance expenses involved in standard operation. The management of the utility was trasferred to Ponederas Municipality in 2008 Connection estimate 9,100*.9/4