Jamaica readying plans for water utility

The government of Jamaica is looking at implementing a new business model for the National Water Commission in order to make the country's water sector more efficient, according to Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Speaking at a water and sanitation event, Holness said that his administration had already reviewed the agency's corporate governance and current business model, concluding that the latter sometimes leads "to difficulties in raising capital or even meeting regulatory targets" for the NWC.

Among the models that the government is considering implementing are public-private partnerships (PPPs), as well as changing the status of the agency, making it a company so that it can raise equity finance via a listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Delegating some of the services the agency currently provides to private concessionaires is another idea that is being explored.

"These are all new models of the provision of the water service that we have to consider if we are to meet the growing challenges of providing accessible and high-quality water services to our people," Holness added.

At the same event, the prime minister said that the water utility will have to collaborate with the national works agency (NWA) during the construction of major projects developed by either of the two agencies to avoid unnecessary overlapping of functions.

Established in 1980, the NWC supplies potable water to more than 2mn people across the island nation, and sewage services to over half a million residents.