Mexico Weighs Buying Aguakan Water Concession

Mexico City, Mexico — President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that the federal government is analyzing the possibility of acquiring the drinking water service concession operated by the company Aguakan in Cancún, Isla Mujeres, and Puerto Morelos, though she warned that the company has proposed an amount close to 12 billion pesos.

During her morning briefing, the federal leader said the review is being conducted through legal channels and also through a potential agreed-upon purchase, in coordination with the government of Quintana Roo state and the involved municipalities.

Sheinbaum explained that a possible acquisition has already been proposed to the company, but the requested amount is very high, which has complicated the possibility of an agreement.

“We are analyzing both the process through which the extension of the concession was granted to this company and the possibility, because they have already recovered their investment, of even buying the concession,” she said.

“It has been proposed to the company, but the problem is that the prices are very, very high. They even proposed around 12 billion, well, that would be absurd to pay.”

The President emphasized that any decision must adhere to the law and cannot be resolved unilaterally.

“You cannot just take away someone’s concession if it’s not done through a legal procedure. It has to be under the law; you cannot remove the concession overnight,” she stated.

The case, she said, has been under review since the middle of last year, after a majority of residents in those municipalities voted in a June 2022 consultation to withdraw the concession.

“We have been reviewing it since approximately the middle of last year. It was being reviewed since the government of President López Obrador. We resumed the case with Banobras from the middle of last year, and Conagua is also participating,” she affirmed.