AyA: US$240mn investment program in sewers and aqueducts

Costa Rica's state water utility (AyA) plans to invest US$240mn to replace the country's sewer and aqueduct system, La Prensa Libre reported. More than 1,400km of piping could be replaced or repaired as part of the project, much of which is almost 100 years old. If approved by Costa Rica's lawmakers the work will be financed by two soft loans from the Bank of Venezuela and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The US$60mn Bank of Venezuela loan has already been approved and it is believed that the US$180mn loan from the JBIC could be approved by mid-August. AyA president Everardo Rodríguez said the loans will have a grace period of seven years after the completion of the construction work and will not have a negative impact on future Costa Rican governments'' finances. He said he expects Costa Rica's legislature to quickly approve the project and the seven-year construction period could begin by mid-2005. The current sewer system is outdated, Rodríguez added, and the aqueduct system loses 50% of the water it carries.