CAF contributes to optimizing drinking water service in Quito

A US$34.4 million loan to substantially improve the water service of the city of Quito was today granted to Empresa Municipal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado (EMAAP).

The agreement was signed in CAF headquarters in Caracas by CAF President & CEO Enrique García, and the Ecuadorian ambassador in Venezuela, Julio Correa Paredes.

The Corporation -- financial institution formed by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela -- is now one of the main sources of funds for the Andean countries, especially long-term. The Corporation’s shareholders also include Mexico, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, and 22 private banks from the Andean region, and Brazil’s membership, already officially announced by the government of that country, is expected in the near future.

The CAF president said the loan granted to the Ecuadorian government was part of its strategy to help its member countries “reinforce their productive base and, at the same time, raise the standard of living of the population through the efficient and reliable supply of vital basic services - such as water and electricity - combined with an adequate selection of sources at the lowest cost and in conditions compatible with the environment."

The loan with a 12.5 year term will be used to optimize the “Papallacta” project, which will partially replace the existing system for collecting and pumping piped water to the Ecuadorian capital. The water will be collected from the high rivers in the Cordillera at 3,700 m above sea level, and piped by gravity to a main channel.

The project will make substantial savings of electricity and guarantee water supplies, which will no longer depend on power from the National Interconnected System.

In 1994 the Corporation approved operations in favor of Ecuador for US$426 million to support the infrastructure works which country is implementing.