A contract for a drinking water project in Mbarara, a district in the southwest of Uganda, was recently awarded. The contract was awarded to the French firm Vinci’s subsidiary Sogea-Satom.
The public-owned National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NSWC) chose the French corporation Vinci’s subsidiary. This comes after the February 2022 contract for drinking water and sanitation in Gulu City, Uganda.
Details of the deal for the drinking water project in Mbarara
As per the deal, Sogea-Satom will construct a water intake on the 597-kilometer Kagera River. A facility with a daily capacity of 30,000 m3 will treat the raw water. In addition, the contract includes constructing a suppression station. It also involves laying 62 km of pipes to supply water to about 200,000 residents in the Mbarara district.
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Sogea-Satom can rely on its own employees in addition to the local labor force, or 200 new employees, to execute all the tasks stipulated for the drinking water project in Uganda. The Vinci Group estimates that it will take 22 months from the project’s start for households to start enjoying its benefits.
The project’s principal financial partner is the French Development Agency (AFD). The agency provided a €73 million loan for the project.
Boost to access to drinking water in Uganda
Expected to serve 484,000 people, the drinking water project in Mbarara will be significant to the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment’s aim. Reportedly, the ministry aims to boost access to drinking water in the country which has a population of 49 million. Of the population, the organization Water.org estimates that 7 million still lack access to clean drinking water.
The Gulu’s drinking water supply and sanitation project (in northern Uganda) will also be crucial to the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment’s aim. The second phase of the Gulu drinking water supply and sanitation project is still being carried out by Sogea-Saton.
