1st big drinking water supply project in Côte d’Ivoire

More than 150,000 people from now on have access to drinking water

The Ministry of Economic Infrastructures of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire officially inaugurated the drinking water supply systems, part of the PROGRAMME D’HYDRAULIQUE ET D’ASSAINISSEMENT POUR LE MILLENAIRE (PHAM, HYDRAULIC AND SANITATION PROGRAM FOR THE MILLENIUM). “VERGNET HYDRO has, for more than 30 years, provided a lot of manual pumps in Côte d’Ivoire. But, it is the first time we are implementing such a huge drinking water supply project”, says enthusiastically Etienne DECHERF, Business and Operations Director of VERGNET HYDRO.

Thanks to the PHAM, more than 150,000 people from rural Western Côte d’Ivoire (Cavally, Guemon, Haut Sassandra, Marahoué and Tonkpi) from now on have access to drinking water. The project included the repairs of 13 drinking water supply systems (replacement of water pipes, building of new standpipes, etc.) and 29 new drinking water systems (electrical equipment and connections of boreholes, pipes laying, etc.). “We implemented this project in partnership with our Ivorian subsidiary SAHER and with the company MTK SERVICES. VERGNET HYDRO, the lead partner, provided all the equipment, except for the water towers. MTK SERVICES coordinated the implementation of the works”, says Thomas CANDELORO, Project Manager of VERGNET HYDRO.

People that have been greatly affected by the 2002 civil war

Funded primarily by the EUROPEAN UNION, and with support of the Ivorian government and the KREDITANSTALT FUR WIEDERAUFBAU (KfW), the hydraulic part of the program is being piloted by the OFFICE NATIONAL DE L’EAU POTABLE (ONEP, NATIONAL BOARD FOR DRINKING WATER) in Côte d’Ivoire. “From the advent, this project, spread over a territory as big as Ireland, was a real challenge. It is providing with drinking water people that have been greatly affected by the 2002 civil war. It is an important step for the development of these territories and is therefore a great satisfaction for us”, concludes Mikael DUPUIS, Director of the company SAHER.