The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) contracted K&M Advisors to develop financial simulations that have been used to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on water utilities in the Caribbean, and to identify measures and/or instruments that can be put in place in the short term to mitigate those impacts. The Ministry of Public Utilities (MPU) of Trinidad and Tobago has requested that a financial model and accompanying user manual be prepared by K&M Advisors specifically for Trinidad and Tobago’s Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). In addition to modeling the impacts of COVID-19, this financial model will also consider the regulatory framework, economic structure, water and sanitation sector in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the structure of WASA. The financial model will be used to make strategic operating and policy decisions related to improvement of the utility and provide support the government in its re-negotiation of desalination contracts. In particular, the model will help WASA and the MPU prepare a plan to be submitted in November 2020 to cabinet level officials of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

K&M was engaged by the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica Limited, which was a potential project lender, to perform technical, financial, and commercial due diligence services for a gas-to-liquids project at the Pointe a Pierre Refinery in Trinidad. K&M’s technical due diligence services included assessing the plant’s construction status and the owner’s plan to complete construction and operate the plant for the next 15-25 years. As part of its work, K&M visited the project site to meet with the owner’s project team, evaluate the present status of the plant, and identify the requirements to bring the plant into commercial operation. K&M then identified the major risks going forward. To assess the plant’s expected performance and areas of uncertainty, K&M reviewed and commented on the project’s technology and selected equipment and identify the major risks related to each. K&M’s commercial due diligence services included reviewing and evaluating the major project agreements and the risk allocation among the parties to those contracts.