A new Sustainability Fees was recently written into law, a national ordinance, earmarked for AWSS, Aruba’s Wastewater Sustainable Solutions, a plan hatched by Minister Ursell Arends, the Minister of Transport, Integrity, Nature and Elderly Care, and his team, determined to solve a stinky issue.
The plan title “Modernization and Digitalization of the Wastewater Network,” introduces us to AWSS, a semi-privatized wastewater treatment operation, financed by $20 per visitor, once a year, times the number of annual island visitors. The $20 tourist levy is effective, July 1st, 2024.
The plan to revamp the Bubali Wastewater treatment plants also involves the transfer of assets to AWSS, among them, the three existing sewage treatment plants, in Bubali, Parkietenbos and Zeewijk, in St Nicolas, the entire sewer systems of Aruba, and the incinerator at Parkietenbos, which burns the sludge left over from wastewater treatment.
The reason cited in the law for the creation of AWSS and the transfer of the assets is the dire need for investment which GOA can’t carry, thus a lender will have to be identified, perhaps they already have one in the pipeline, who will hold the income from the new sustainability fee as collateral, to guarantee the loans, reportedly more than 70M.
The new project will replace the current malfunctioning aeration systems with modern and efficient ones, systems that accelerate the purification process. The timetable and relevant milestones for the project are unclear — when they are planning to buy the equipment and start installation is yet unknown, but the aim is clear. If successful this will have a significant positive impact on Aruba, achieving sustainability and environmental protection goals.
The ED Card Enforcement and Payment system will complement the Sustainability Fee, with the help of Technology, offered by SITA, a most reliable airport and airline communication network partner, serving the aviation industry since 1949. The levy will be collected via the existing ED Card system. The ED card project qualified back in 2022, with the health credentials pilot during the pandemic, and will now be used to efficiently collect the new tourist levy, designed to pay for our new wastewater network.
The national ordinance states that Utilities Aruba N.V. is willing and able to manage the project, and it will take over the operation as a Sui Generis, a semi-private entity within GOA, regardless of what we think about Utilities’ shortcomings as an organization.
Parliament voted in agreement, and the whole kit and caboodle including real estate, the landfill, pipes and pumps, will be transferred from DOW, the Public Works Department, to Utilities — freeing 8M in DOW’s budget, hopefully used for road maintenance.
AWSS will also have to iron out the question of the civil servants working for that cancelled department at DOW. Will the personnel be kept or honorably discharged? (I understand this was already accomplished.)
The following is the language of the ordinance: To cover the costs of the renovation, operation and maintenance of the sewer network, every passenger who enters Aruba via the airport owes a fee, called a sustainability fee, and that does not apply to local residents, minor children less than eight years old, transit passengers, crew members of aircraft or ships, if working, return visitors within one year — and perhaps one or two more exceptions.
Two more comments: I understand that an existing law, charging local households for sewer fees will be dusted and resurrected down the road. According to the minister the local market contributes about 30% of our wastewater. The lion’s share is generated by our only economic pillar, tourism.
In the sentence dictated by the court, where Amsterdam Manor won a judgement against DOW and the Bubali treatment plant, the judge obliged GOA to buy mobile wastewater treatment units as an interim solution. The timeline of the verdict was very short. And if they don’t achieve the date, including ordering, shipping, clearing Customs, installing, testing, then a fine will be imposed.
