An Open Letter to the Management Board and Supervisory Board of Aqualectra
During my twenty-two years of teaching Business Administration, I have often challenged my students with a simple question:
What is the unique value of an organization that competitors cannot easily copy?
Most companies believe their value lies in their buildings, machinery or products. But in today's business world, an organization's true value lies in the knowledge it has accumulated over the years.
When I look at Aqualectra through that lens, one question naturally comes to mind:
Do we simply have a utility company?
Or do we possess a treasure of knowledge that we ourselves have not yet fully recognized or valued?
I believe the latter is true.
We See Water, But We Should See Knowledge
For most people, Aqualectra is the company that produces drinking water and electricity.
I believe the organization is far more than that.
For nearly a century, Curaçao has accomplished something that many countries around the world are still striving to achieve: producing safe drinking water from seawater.
This is no ordinary achievement.
It is the result of decades of experience.
Of research.
Of engineering.
Of solving thousands of technical challenges in real-world conditions.
And it is precisely this practical expertise that many countries are searching for today.
The World Is Changing
Climate change is placing increasing pressure on global water supplies.
More countries are facing drought.
More islands are searching for sustainable water solutions.
More governments are investing in desalination technology.
This means that global demand for expertise will continue to grow—not only for drinking water production, but for every aspect of water management.
What Should Curaçao Export?
When people talk about exporting water, they often imagine ships leaving Curaçao's harbor filled with drinking water.
I don't believe that is the future.
Water is heavy.
Transporting water is expensive.
Knowledge is not.
Knowledge can travel anywhere in the world.
What Curaçao can export is its expertise.
The know-how of producing drinking water.
The systems.
The engineering.
The professionals who know how to design, operate and maintain these complex facilities.
That is why I would like to respectfully ask the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Aqualectra one important question:
Does Aqualectra want to remain simply a utility company?
Or does it have the ambition to become the Caribbean's leading center of excellence for water technology?
I believe this is an important question.
Because if we do not take that step, another country will do so before we do.
And that would be an opportunity Curaçao simply cannot afford to lose.
Orlando Meulens
Columnist