GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP):
A Cayman Islands-based water company announced a US$34 million (Cayman $27.8 million) plan to increase its desalination operations in the Caribbean, officials said.
Consolidated Water Co. will acquire five water companies in the British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, the company's chairman Jeffrey Parker said.
The company currently operates desalinisation plants in the Cayman Islands and Belize in Central America.
"(This) is consistent with our strategy to expand our operations in the Caribbean...and in other parts of the world where naturally-occurring supplies of drinking water are scarce," Parker said.
The company's total daily production capacity would be 11 million gallons (41.8 million litres) if the acquisitions are made, company officials said. Previously, the company's capacity was three million gallons (11.4 million litres) per day.
The company would be the sole provider of water in this British Caribbean territory of 45,000 if the deal goes through, company officials said.
