US company secures deal to export Dominica water

Public Utilities Minister Charles Savarin says careful consideration was given to the request and government has decided to grant them approval to Sisserou Water Inc.

ROSEAU, Dominica, November 13, 2009 – The Dominica government has granted a licence to a United States-based company to tap into the island’s natural water supply and export billions of gallons of the resource over a 10-year period.
 
Public Utilities Minister Charles Savarin says careful consideration was given to the request and government has decided to grant them approval to Sisserou Water Inc.

“They are thinking in terms of having the capacity to take about three billion of gallons of water per annum and export to markets overseas,” he said.

“We have informed the representatives of government’s decision and it took some time between the government deciding to grant and the actual construction of the licence.”

Savarin said the project would impact positively on the Dominican economy and would provide jobs for at least 24 locals within the first year.

“It calls for an investment of US$32 million and we are hopeful that if the projects unfold as represented to us by the entrepreneurs, that it could have a significant positive impact on Dominica. We have always held that water is a major resource of this country, that the marketing of this water is a benefit of this country,” he said.

“Sisserou Water Inc. shall provide full time employment for at least eight Dominican Nationals at its water extraction and exporting facility at Clyde River and 16 Dominica Nationals on the water vessels contracted to transport water from Dominica, from its first year of operations.”

Minister Savarin said this venture should be seen as the beginning of commercializing Dominica’s water resource.