The Antigua Public Utilities Authority has received approval for a $170 million loan from the Antigua Commercial Bank, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has said.
According to Browne, the consolidation loan will be used to upgrade much of the services that it offers to consumers.
“APUA will be investing in fibre to home network as well as investing in the underwater cable so that it doesn’t have to rely on Cable and Wireless/FLOW with what in my view is usurious arrangement for rental of their underwater cable,” Browne told Pointe FM.
A part of the loan will also be used to consolidate some of APUA’s existing debt, about 40 million.
“The APUA loan will help it build out the water infrastructure that will improve the water distribution network.
“Two new reverse osmosis plants will be commissioned within nine months and a third in eighteen months. “This will bring water production to 10 million gallons daily, enough to meet the daily demand,” Browne said.
“All those old pipes that have been underground for decades in places like the Point, Ottos and other parts of the island, will be replaced with funds from the loan,” he added.
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A word to the wise. ACB, do not lend them more than you can afford to lose. Make sure you can still survive if this loan goes bad. APUA is government. Remember ABIB and its government loans.
And where ACB go get e from ??
APUA is a monopoly and should never have to borrow for capital investments.
This shows gross mismanagement.
Where do you get your ideas from? Monopolies don’t borrow? LUCELEC don’t borrow? Their financials statements are easily available online. PG&E is the US is a monopoly in the US markets it covers. It has some 21 billion in debt and its seeking currently to get financing for some 11 billion. I challenge you to indicate one electric utility company, in existence for at least ten years, which has not borrowed for capital expenses
@Not logical
Does that make sense to you.
What does APUA gross pannually?
If you do not know, why is it you do not know? Don’t you think this is the first bit of information you would need?
Yes I hope you remember the ten years of miss management under the UPP that brought a company from being a cash cow having even loaned the government money go an almost bankrupt company needing government intervention to pay off their debt at WIO and SEMBCORP and even a Chinese loan for a generator that never worked. I mean this government has spent millions in capital projects for them already. RO Plants, Solar panel fields. So yes they the UPP have miss managed this great asset of the people to the point that they even wanted to kill the goose that lay the golden egg. APUA PCS.
Why is the government running private services like internet ? What a waste
In a small market kike ours, were it not for government intervention in these services these companies would have milked us dry. Perhaps you forgot how high they used to charged for mobile phone service incoming and outgoing calls until PCS came on the scene with only outgoing and calls and free incoming calls. It’s a blessing that we the people have government investment in some of these industry. Just like State Insurance and WIOC. Since we do not have the critical mass they always say things cannot be done cheaper. Look at our internet rates and what we are getting for it. When APUA has their own broadband the game will be over.
If we stop immigration from Jamaica and D.R., then we won’t need to produce as much water!
ACB has a billion in deposits so it probably can provide this loan. But PM Browne was very critical of UPP for “sinking ABIB” by forcing it to lend the government loans. How will this be different?
Banks are regulated by the ECCB they cannot lend more than allowed. which is a percentage of their equity. And incase you didn’t notice this is not a government loan. APUA management negotiated the loan. The UPP borrowed monies directly from ABIB to pay salaries not for capital investments. And to give you an inside, all they had to do was to keep the cashflow with the bank. companies like APUA, MBS, Social Security and others were to keep their accounts with ABIB. but that didn’t last very long so ABIB came into liquidity problems. And they had to ask the government to pay up, but of course they couldn’t. And that was the beginning of the end for ABIB. The loans were not secured. In the end smart Harry took all the loans and bundle them in one big loan with a longterm clause which meant he was now current with his payment.
Smart isn’t he. And ABIB ended up holding an empty bag.
Here we go again. ACB.make sure those documents stipulates.The funds being borrowed must be used for that purpose. For which it is being borrowed to do.Do not give them those funds up front.Set it up like a Construction Loan.You would do” X” and get paid.Then you would do “Y” before one dime is released.How many properties are they putting up to secure this loan.Because no one in their drunken state of mind.Would give APUA an unsecured loan on this earth and or the next.By the way.Why are those Government entities running out of liquidity?No money in the kitty.Is it because of the 5 P’s.
Prior
Preparations
Prevents
Poor
Performances
That is APUA Managements.They did not do their Preparations.
Mount O, your ideas seem to have been starved of the rich nutrients of the boggy fen from the peak! I hear you.98
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