The government of Cameroon has commissioned the rehabilitated Ndjoré water catchment station located in the commune of Mbandjock, Upper Sanaga division.
Cameroonian Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou Essomba inaugurated the water collection centre and said that the project is part of a programme to rehabilitate 350 Scanwater stations.
“The Ndjoré station will contribute to the well-being of the population by replacing traditional wells. For 40 years, the government has been developing the Scanwater project, which has consisted of building 350 such stations throughout the country. Unfortunately they did not function optimally because there was a problem with maintenance and energy sources. These stations ran on diesel and diesel was expensive,” explained Minister Gaston Eloundou Essomba.
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Ndjoré water catchment station
Rehabilitation work on the water catchment plant in the Ndjoré village took two months. Works involved construction of a borehole quipped with a submersible pump for water collection.
The Ndjoré station also consists of a water treatment plant, a 25 m³ reservoir, five standpipes and a solar off-grid electrical system. The project was financed by the China Machinery Corporation, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned Sinomach at a tune of US $169,000. It will serve more than 1,875 people per day.
While Cameroon is not yet on track to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation, it has made notable progress since 1990, much more needs to be done to improve the situation, especially in rural areas.
In 2006, 70% of the population had access to safe drinking water and the coverage in urban centres is 88%, significantly better than the 47% in rural areas. However, rapid urbanization has rendered existing infrastructure inadequate with periurban dwellers also lacking access to safe drinking water. Sanitation coverage is also poor. In urban areas only 58% of the population has access to improved sanitation facilities, and the rate in rural areas is 42%.
