In Cameroon, the Minister for Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, is launching the second phase of the drinking water supply project for nine towns (PAEP) in Garoua-Boulaï, in the Lom-et-Djerem division. This part of the water project, which will be extended to four other towns in the Central African country, will improve drinking water supplies for thousands of residents.
Work on the second phase of the Nine Towns Drinking Water Supply Project (PAEP) was launched on 28 August 2023 in Garoua-Boulaï, in the Lom-et-Djerem division of Cameroon’s East region. The ceremony was presided over by Cameroon’s Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, in the presence of the Managing Director of Camwater, Blaise Moussa, Cameroon’s Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform, Joseph Le, and local administrative authorities. The Chinese company CGC Overseas Construction Group (CGCOC) will be carrying out the work in the Garoua-Boulaï area under a contract signed recently with the Cameroonian authorities.
The work will involve rehabilitating the existing raw water intake, rehabilitating and extending the treatment plant to provide a production capacity of 1,800 m3 per day, and building a 500 m3 reservoir.
Delivery of the new facilities in 36 months
In Garoua-Boulaï, CGCOC will also be densifying the drinking water distribution network. The aim is to improve the drinking water supply for the town’s 141,388 inhabitants.
The Cameroon government estimates that the work should be completed in 36 months. After Garoua-Boulaï, the second phase of the PAEP will extend to the towns of Garoua, Maroua, Yabassi and Dschang, with the aim of providing a drinking water production capacity of 74,400 m3 per day. The State of Cameroon is financing this work thanks to a loan of 63 million CFA francs (96 million euros) granted by Exim Bank of China in March 2018.
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The start of work in this locality in the East region comes several years after the end of the first phase of the PAEP, implemented between 2014 and 2017 in the towns of Sangmélima, Kribi, Bafoussam and Bamenda. The work carried out by CGCOC “increased drinking water production capacity by 111,881.67 m3 per day and storage capacity by 36,100 m3. This stage of the project also enabled the drinking water network to be extended over 633.75 km, and 125 additional connections to be made, as well as 79 new standpipes”, says Camwater. Exim Bank of China co-financed the first phase of the PAEP with the State of Cameroon and the public utility Camwater.
Inès Magoum
