The project was launched on Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 by the Director General of the Office des forages ruraux (Ofor), Alpha Bayla Gueye. The public organization is carrying out the work in the Matam region, in the northeast of Senegal. Among the future installations are two boreholes. They will pump water from the water table using solar energy to supply six water towers and other related works.
The water will be transported through 50 kilometers of pipelines to eight chlorination units before being distributed to the population.
Spain’s support
Under the technical supervision of the Senegalese Ministry of Rural Hydraulics and the financial supervision of the Ministry of Finance in Senegal, Ofor estimates that this drinking water supply project will benefit 21,000 people in the Matam region. According to the ADOS Association (Au service du développement local & citoyen), 53% of the water consumed in Matam comes from unprotected sources, namely ponds and marigots. This situation is at the origin of waterborne diseases, the main cause of infant mortality in this Senegalese region.
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The full implementation of the “Project to improve access to drinking water through actions to optimize and rehabilitate existing infrastructure in the Matam region” will require an investment of 1.5 million euros, or about 984 million CFA francs. Ofor is receiving financial support from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The project will be completed in December 2023.
Inès Magoum