CAMEROON: 9-town drinking water project to be launched in Dschang
The second phase of the nine-town drinking water supply project (PAEP) can get underway in Dschang, in the Menoua department of western Cameroon. On April 24, 2024, the local administrative authorities and the populations affected by the project pledged to facilitate the installation of the Chinese company CGC Overseas Construction Group (CGCOC) and the start of construction.
The tensions surrounding implementation of the second phase of the nine-town drinking water supply project (Projet d'alimentation en eau potable de neuf villes - PAEP) in the town of Dschang are over. On April 24, 2024, Blaise Moussa, Managing Director of Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation (Camwater), the company in charge of public water and sanitation services in the Central African country, was assured of this by the local administrative authorities and the people affected. The Cameroonian authority was in the capital of the Menoua department for a working visit.
Since its announcement, the drinking water project has encountered a number of obstacles on the part of the authorities and the populations affected, notably on the land front. " After fruitful discussions, the people of Dschang, Fongo Tongo and the surrounding area agreed to facilitate the installation of the Chinese company CGC Overseas Construction Group (CGCOC) and the start of work", says Camwater.
Densification of drinking water production and distribution networks
By implementing this drinking water project, Camwater aims to contribute to the achievement of the sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in the city of Dschang by 2030 and throughout Cameroon. This goal aims for universal access to drinking water and sanitation for populations. The 2018 report by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) estimated the rate of access to drinking water in urban areas in Cameroon at 77%, and 45% in rural areas. Figures that have certainly evolved, rendered in 2024.
In Dschang, Phase 2 of the PAEP will see the rehabilitation and extension of production facilities to provide 7,000m3 of drinking water per day, as well as the densification of the distribution network. Pending the actual launch of the works, Camwater is continuing to develop the Garoua-Boulaï projectproject, launched on August 28, 2023 in the Lom-et-Djerem department of Cameroon's Eastern region, and scheduled for completion in 2026. It covers the rehabilitation of the existing raw water intake, the rehabilitation and extension of the treatment plant to provide a production capacity of 1,800m3 per day, and the construction of a 500m3 water tower.
Phase 2 of the PAEP also covers the town of Maroua, where five new boreholes will be built for an additional production capacity of 13,000m3 per day, as well as a 5,000m3 storage reservoir. Yabassi will also benefit from this project. In this town in the Littoral region, work will focus on the rehabilitation and extension of production facilities for a capacity of 600m3 per day, and the densification of the distribution network. And finally Garoua, where water production facilities with a capacity of 25,000m3 per day will be rehabilitated and extended.
For the record, work on the first phase of the PEAP, which covered the towns of Kribi, Bafoussam, Bamenda and Sangmélima, was completed in 2021, providing additional daily production of around 38,000m3 for all the towns concerned.
Source: www.afrik21.africa/
