The Burkinabe Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ousmane Nacro, is launching the "Djiguifa Dji" project to supply drinking water to "unplatted areas" in the major urban centers of Burkina Faso. The Office national de l'eau et de l'assainissement (ONEA), which is implementing this project, will build a total of 120 water points in the country's 13 regions.
The emergency program to build 120 drinking water supply structures and secure dams in Burkina Faso “Djiguifa Dji” was launched in Sector 24 of Bobo-Dioulasso, in the Hauts-Bassins region. The Burkina Faso Ministry of Water and Sanitation is implementing the project through the National Water and Sanitation Office (ONEA).
The roadmap of the public organization provides for the construction of 120 water points or boreholes, spread over the 13 regions of Burkina Faso, specifically in the outskirts of major urban centers. The objective is to strengthen the drinking water coverage of the populations of several cities in the country.
According to the Burkina Faso Ministry of Water and Sanitation, the Hauts-Bassins region, located in the west of the country, will be the first beneficiary of the Djiguifa Dji project with 14 water points. ONEA will begin delivering the facilities in December 2021. The last water point should be operational by the end of January 2022.
The government of Burkina Faso will invest 5 billion CFA francs (7.62 million euros) for the drinking water supply component of the Djiguifa Dji project. The initiative also aims to secure the dams in this West African country. According to Ousmane Nacro, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Water and Sanitation, these facilities are in an advanced state of deterioration, with a filling level of 41% for the country’s 1,035 dams.
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Among the water reservoirs in the country of the Honest Men is the Bakata dam, located 40 km from Sapouy in the Ziro province. The facility, which had an initial capacity of 3.4 million m3, is now experiencing various forms of degradation related to climate change, explains the Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable. These include bank erosion, destruction of vegetation cover, etc. This situation accelerates the silting up of the Bakata Dam, resulting in a decrease in its storage capacity.
Inès Magoum
