GS Inima, a company specialized in basic sanitation services, has obtained permission from the Sanitation Company of Alagoas (CASAL) to study the feasibility of a new public-private partnership (PPP) in the Brazilian state.

The Procedure for Expression of Interest (PMI) was published last May and two companies submitted proposals: GS Inima and Aegea Saneamento. 

The object of any PPP is the implementation, expansion, maintenance, operation and management of a Sewerage System in the municipality of Maceió, in the areas of Litoral Norte, Serraria, Farol, Orla da Lagoa Mundaú, Jacitinho, Córrego do Sapo and surroundings.

The deadline for the completion of the feasibility study is February 2017.

The state of Alagoas has already signed two PPP contracts in the sanitation sector: the first one in 2012 with Companhia de Águas do Brasil - CAB Ambiental and the second one in 2014. As we reported in September 2014, the latter was awarded to a consortium which included GS Inima Brasil. The project involved the implementation, operation and maintenance of the sewage system of the the high part of Maceió. It included two sewage treatment plants, 12 pumping stations, 166 km of collector pipelines. The project aimed to boost increase collection coverage in the city to 80% from 36%.

Maceió is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state Alagoas. It is located between the Mundaú Lake and the Atlantic Ocean. Maceio metropolitan area has a total population of 1,156,287 people.