Local to head Essal, Spaniard steps down

Chilean Raul Saez has been appointed general manager of Chile's Region X water utility Essal, taking over from Spaniard Agustin de la Fuente, Essal said in a statement to Chile's securities regulator, SVS. The move is seen as part of Spainish utility Iberdrola's process to sell its controlling stake in the utility. However, Diario Financiero quoted Saez as saying that Iberdrola will not let go of the utility until it gets a good price. He added that Iberdrola has invested US$80mn in the last three years, almost half of which was spent this year, and that another US$15mn is planned to build wastewater plants in rural areas. The company serves some 530,000 residents throughout the region, whose major population centers include regional capital Puerto Montt and cities Valdivia and Osorno, with 100% water and 88.3% sewerage coverage.