Belize Water Services

cancelled

In March 2001 the Belize Public Utilities Commission (PUC) divested its shares in state owned water and sewage operator Belize Water Services Limited (BWS). The major investor in BWS was CASCAL BV, a consortium that purchased an 83% stake in BWS for $49.6 million. State owned Belize Social Security Board acquired a 10% stake in BWS, and small local investors purchased the remaining 7% of the shares. The central government of Belize retained a golden share in the company. BWS was incorporated by the Government of Belize on January 22, 2001 as the successor company to the state owned Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). BWS was vested with the assets and liabilities of WASA on March 23, 2001. BWS operated in all of Belize’s metropolitan areas, including Belize City, Belmopan, San Pedro and Ambergris. In 2001 CASCAL BV was a consortium of British company BiWater and Dutch corporation Nuon. Between 2001 and 2005 BSW reduced its non-revenue water losses from 53% to 38%. In March 2005 the company had some 39,000 customers consuming 6.3 million cubic meters of water per year. The government of Belize bought back the shares from CASCAL BV in August 2005 for $24.8 million. The shares were put out for sale again at the end of November 2005. None None