By Foday Moriba Conteh
On Saturday 19th September, the Islamic Development Bank has on Saturday 19th September 2020, approved a whopping sum of 40 million dollars for the implementation of the Freetown WASH & Aquatic Environment Revamping Project.
It was disclosed that the total cost of the project is estimated approximately at 189.2 million dollars and is designed to be jointly funded by the African Development Bank (ADB), Organization for Petroleum Exporting Fund for International Development (OFID), Kuwait Fund, Saudi Fund, Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaption Fund (AF), and ECOWAS Fund for Investment and Development (EBID), in addition to parallel co-financing from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
The Government of Sierra Leone is expected to provide in-kind contribution estimated at about 35 billion Leones in addition to the mandatory obligation of implementing the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP), estimated to be in the in the region of 5 billion Leones.
The project will be implemented by Guma Valley Water Company and includes the following components:
Infrastructure: Rehabilitation and expansion of water production capacity and distributing network, construction of fecal sludge management facilities and Service connections for the urban poor.
In terms of Institutional Development, the component will include functional analysis and re-organisation of Guma Valley Water Company, as well as the design of utility performance improvement tools. Technical assistance and equipment will also be provided to enable Guma Valley water Company to improve its services.
For Project Management that component will provide for the incremental utility operational costs arising from project implementation will be provided for under the project.
The objectives of the project are to: Provide sustainable access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation to the residents of Freetown and the Western Area and strengthen the Government’s capacity to facilitate urban water sector reform and improve performance across the Western Area.
On completion of the project, some key direct benefits will be: the increase in safe water supply by 15% and improved sanitation coverage by 7% in Freetown and Western Area – covering 99% of the population and improved capacity of Guma Valley Water Company.
The indirect benefits will include, but not necessarily limited to:
reduction in the prevalence rates of waterborne diseases, especially cholera, dysentery and diarrhea; a significant reduction in health costs and time for collecting water which translate into substantial savings for the urban poor; the easing of the burden of fetching water which is one of the most arduous tasks for women and young girls; the development of income-generating activities for women given the free time accruing from the reduced burden of fetching water;an increase in the enrolment ratio, especially for girls, and in the female literacy rate; the reduction in social conflicts related to water use;
the promotion of local governance and decentralization;the efficient management and maintenance of water supply and sanitation facilities; human capacity building and the creation of jobs in water management through the involvement of private operators in the construction, management, repair and maintenance of water supply facilities.
It could be recalled that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the Ministry of Finance between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Islamic Development Bank on 20th February, 2020 for a loan of $50 million of which $10 million will go to SLRA and the rest to Guma.
In another development, on Sunday 20th September, 2020, the Guma Valley Water Company concluded a two-day retreat at the Mamba Point Hotel, Aberdeen in Freetown.
The Deputy Managing Director, Guma Valley Water Company, Francis Lahai, said the retreat was aimed at reviewing Designs and Documents under the Freetown Water Supply Master Plan and Priority Investment Studies submitted by engineering consultants; Messrs. IMC Worldwide, Hydroconseil, COBA/CONCEPT and SMEC in a serene environment for staff to better concentrate on the task at hand.
Mr. Lahai stated the Designs and Documents being reviewed will form the blueprints for various project works that will be undertaken by Guma in the short and medium term like the Freetown WASH and Aquatic Environment Revamping project aimed at improving water supply access in the Western Area.
Guma staff at the retreat meeting were divided into 5 groups and tasked with reviewing Designs and Documents relating to transmission pipelines; raw water sources and water treatment; service reservoirs and booster stations; public standpipes and metering; and procurement processes.
