The feasibility study and design of the proposed Grand Anse Mahe dam to be built in Grand Anse Mahe district situated in the south-western coastal region of Mahe in Seychelles, have entered the final stage which is public inspection.
Alain Decommarmond, the principal secretary for the East African country ministry of environment energy and climate change said that to ensure wider participation of the public in the process, three copies of the documents will be placed at the Grand Anse District Administration, Port Glaud District Administration, and Documentation Center at the Botanical Garden.
The public has two weeks to review the documents and leave their comments.
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The commencement of the feasibility study
This feasibility study is the third carried out for the project following the 2nd which was carried out starting from 1991 by GIBB, a consultancy firm based in Mauritius, and the 1st which dates back to 1972.
It was commissioned back in 2017 by the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), the company overseeing the implementation of the project in Seychelles. Last year, Studio Pietrangeli which is an Italian-based company specializing in dam and hydropower engineering and design conducted a comprehensive feasibility study at the site for a period of over four months.
According to PUC’s estimate, when constructed the dam will hold around 850,000 cubic meters of water, with a daily yield of 9,600 cubic meters. The contract manager of PUC, Steve Mussard, said that this capacity is quite significant because “today with a small treatment plant at Grand Anse Mahe, we are producing 3,000 cubic meters per day, so the dam will greatly increase capacity for the entire western and southern regions.”
The dam is a major part of Seychelles’ major infrastructure initiatives initiated to help the nation, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, with water security at a time of rising visits from tourists.
