The drinking water supply project, which is being launched in Chad, was named “Bitéha 2”, the first stone was laid at a ceremony held on June 29, 2019, chaired by the Chadian Head of State, and in the presence of officials from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the Saudi Fund for Development. These two institutions are co-financing the project with €38 million for the first and €23 million for the second. This brings the total cost of the project to around €61 million.
The Bitéha 2 project will reduce the drinking water deficit observed so far in Chad, a country where only 50% of the population has access to drinking water. This achievement should restore this rate to 80%. It is in line with the government’s ambitions at the beginning of this year. Moreover, the Chadian State budget for 2019 has allocated approximately 46 million euros to the water sector. But only half of the total amount has so far been injected into this sector. The country received grant support of €45 million from the United Arab Emirates. For the Minister of Environment, Water and Fisheries, Siddick Abdelkérim Haggar, the new infrastructure will definitively solve the drinking water problem in the town of Abéché, which has 76,000 inhabitants. Abéché is the second largest city in the country after Ndjamena, the capital.
The Bitéha 2 Project complements Bitéha 1, which was initiated in the 1990s with the collaboration of Germany. However, nearly 20 years later, the population has increased 20 fold, creating a significant new need for water supply. For some months now, there have been “difficulties in terms of access to drinking water” in this locality, as President Idriss Déby has acknowledged.
Luchelle Feukeng