Although the plenary agreement was adopted on June 24, the Güímar City Council and Aqualia yesterday signed the contract by which the leading company in the Management of integrated water cycle It will provide its service in the municipality for a further 25 years, at a cost to the municipality of 71,034,067 euros (more than 2.8 million euros each year). The offer of the company obtains the award of the administrative contract for the concession of public service of drinking water supply and sewerage of the Tenerife municipality, beating the six companies that participated in the tender, among which were competitors such as Canaragua (Suez), Sacyr o Global Omnium-Tagua.
The mayor of Güímar, Gustavo Pérez, and the Aqualia delegate in Canary Islands, Francisco Blanco, yesterday proceeded to the formal act of signing the service award document in the Guimarero Town Hall, in the presence of the first deputy mayor, Airam Puerta. The agreement, among other issues, establishes that Aqualia undertakes to carry out improvement works that it must carry out during the first three years of the contract. It will also undertake the infrastructure renovation as of the fourth year of validity of this contract and on a triennial basis. It should be remembered that Güímar has 14 water tanks.
Aqualia lends sservice to the more than 20,000 inhabitants the municipality of Güímar now has since 1995, of which the last eight have had an extended contract. At the time of the award, the Plenary was informed that the water supply rate increased by 5.34% during the first year, the rest being subject to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
A long haul
The process followed by the Güímar City Council with this contest until reaching the award signature held yesterday began in the previous term. In fact, the specifications drawn up then came to be on the table in the information commission prior to the full adjudication session. An external report detected issues that had to be corrected, which led to a long delay in the final approval, taking into account that during the procedure there was a change of mandate and government group.
The concessionaire company will develop the activity in Güímar from now on with a new hireor adapted to the reality of the municipality. It so happens that the Aqualia company is also the one that has been awarded the water supply service in the two remaining municipalities that make up the Güímar Valley: Candelaria and Arafo.
