Sogea-Satom, a subsidiary of the French group Vinci has inked a contract for a drinking water project in Uganda.
The firm was appointed by Uganda’s public company National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NSWC). The US $71M worth contract covers the construction of several water facilities in the Mbarara district in the southwest of the country.
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Under the agreement, Sogea-Satom will build a water intake on the 597 km long Kagera River. The raw water will be treated in a new plant with a daily capacity of 30,000 m3. The contract also covers the construction of a suppression station, as well as the laying of 62 km of pipes to supply nearly 200,000 people in the Mbarara district. Sogea-Satom can count on its own staff, as well as on the local workforce, i.e. 200 new employees to cover all the work planned for the drinking water supply project.
According to the Vinci Group, it will take 22 months from the start of the project to see the first benefits in households. The objective of the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment is to strengthen the supply of drinking water in the East African country.
According to the organisation Water.org, 7 million Ugandans still do not have access to drinking water, out of an estimated population of 49 million. While awaiting the launch of work in Mbarara, Sogea-Saton is continuing to implement the second phase of the Gulu drinking water supply and sanitation project (in northern Uganda), which will benefit 484,000 people.