The Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) has recently provided an update on the La Gogue drinking water project. According to the state-owned company of the Republic of Seychelles, Sinohydro, which is implementing the project, is six months behind schedule. On the ground, work is 70% complete and the dam will be delivered in June 2020.
“We had completed the filling of the dike up to the crest of the existing dam (La Gogue) and are currently increasing the height of the dike by a further 6 metres. In total, 10 layers were built upstream, which means a height of about 3 metres,” explains Erna Victor, project manager at PUC.
Drinking water for the people of the island of Mahé
The La Gogue dam was commissioned in 1979. It is a homogeneous earth embankment water reservoir with a maximum height of 35 m. The aim of the projects currently being carried out by Sinohydro under the supervision of the PUC is to raise the dam’s dyke by 6 m with an artificial waterproofing system consisting of a PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride, editor’s note) membrane anchored in a trench dug in the existing core. The work will increase the amount of water stored by the reservoir from 600,000 to 1.6 million m3.
After the rehabilitation and optimisation of the La Gogue dam, Sinohydro will work on the second part of the project: the construction of a new drinking water plant. The plant will be located downstream of the dam. It will have a capacity of 4,400 m³ of drinking water per day. The Public Utility Corporation (PUC) plans to begin operating the drinking water plant in June 2021. It will supply drinking water to Mahé, the largest island in the Seychelles archipelago.
The La Gogue drinking water project will require an investment of $13.6 million. The government of Seychelles is providing financing for the project with the help of a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Jean Marie Takouleu