Every day, more than 100,000 m3 of drinking water will soon be available in the distribution network of the East Cameroon region, benefiting nine cities. This is the objective of the signing ceremony of the Amendment phase II, and coupled with the laying of the first stone of the said project, which took place on August 28, 2023 in Garoua-Boulaï in the department of Lom-et- Djerem (East region), under the chairmanship of the Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba, who had at his side, the Director General of the Cameroon-Water Utilities Corporation (CAMWATER), Blaise Moussa .
This project is the result of a partnership between China and the Cameroonacross the CAMWATER the project owner, and the Chinese company CGCOC LTD which is the project manager. The project, which will be carried out in 9 other towns in the East Cameroon region, will supply 5,000 households, or more than 30,000 additional people. Through this project, 107,000m3 of water will be circulating daily in the drinking water network, given that other projects are being matured, the initiative being designed to meet the needs of populations over several decades, such as the said Gaston Eloundou Essomba. The Minister of Water and Energy was followed in this clarification by Blaise Moussa the CEO of CAMWATER who expressed his gratitude to the government, through his supervisory ministry, which according to his words, spares no effort to support the company he manages in its heavy and delicate mission of supplying households with quality drinking water and in the necessary volume, and in accordance with its specifications.
Initiated within the framework of bilateral cooperation, the AEP project also aims to extend and upgrade drinking water production stations in the towns of Kribi, Bafoussam, Bamenda, Sangmelima, Garoua-Boulaï, Dschang, Yabassi, Garoua and Maroua. The said project is divided into two components. The first concerns the towns of Dschang, Garoua, Maroua, Yabassi and Garoua-Boulaï. On the choice of the city of Garoua-Boulaï, the work to be undertaken will revolve around the rehabilitation of the current raw water intake, the rehabilitation and extension of the treatment plant, for a production capacity of 1800 m3/d; the construction of a 500 m3 castle and the densification of the distribution network. Work that will be carried out for a period of 36 contractual months by the Chinese company CGCOC Ltd.
In addition to the signing of the commercial amendment, all the partners involved in the execution of the project have also signed a charter of good collaboration for this project financed jointly by Exim Bank of China and the State of Cameroon, to the tune of 123 million US dollars (about 61 billion CFA francs).
In a nutshell, Garoua-Boulaï will have served as the launch pad for a vast project whose overall challenge is the qualitative and quantitative improvement in the supply of drinking water, despite a drinking water supply rate still below expectations. However, in recent years, a qualitative and quantitative leap has been made in the direction of the construction of works in order to improve the rate of access to drinking water, insisted on specifying Gaston Eloundou Essomba, the Minister of Water and Energy, linchpin of the State in terms of drinking water and energy supply policy.
