After the Poro and Tchologo regions in Ivory Coast, the Ivorian company ICA (Ingénierie-construction-adduction d’eau) is moving to Tonkpi to improve the supply of drinking water to the population from boreholes. In this region located in the west of the country, the company will carry out 24 boreholes. On March 4, 2022, the Ivorian Minister of Hydraulics, Laurent Tchagba, presided over the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the project.
This is the third phase of a project to improve drinking water coverage for the populations of three regions in Ivory Coast (Poro, Tchologo and Tonkpi), through the construction of 124 boreholes. As in Poro and Tchologo, the future boreholes will be equipped with Vergnet-type human-powered pumps.
Drinking water for 42,445 inhabitants
The new facilities will be located in the department of Sipilou where they will supply 23 villages with an estimated population of 42,445. The village of Zocoma, in the sub-division of Yorodougou, will be the first of the 24 boreholes.
The company in charge of the work has six months to deliver all the facilities to Tonkpi. ICA will receive 215.5 million CFA francs (nearly 328,600 euros) to complete the project to supply drinking water from groundwater. In the department, 24 water point management committees are to be set up to ensure the maintenance of the new boreholes.
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The funding of 215.5 million CFA francs will be deducted from the 6 billion CFA francs (over 9 million euros) allocated by the Japanese government for the construction of 124 boreholes in the Poro, Tchologo and Tonkpi regions. The completion of this drinking water project will enable the Ivorian government to improve the supply in rural areas, estimated at 73% by the Ivorian Ministry of Hydraulics in 2021, and 83% in urban areas. The ambition of the West African country by 2030 is universal coverage of drinking water. It is through the “Water for All” program that the State of Ivory Coast intends to achieve this ambition. The program was launched by the government in 2017, with a budget of 1,320 billion CFA francs (over 2 million euros).
Inès Magoum