Tunisia, through National Office of Sanitation (Onas), is set to initiate a wastewater management project that will see the private sector get involved in the service of managing wastewater in several cities.
The Onas pilot privatization programme will delegate wastewater management in several cities in the North African country to improve on efficiency. In the pilot privatization program, Onas will franchise collective sanitation in Greater Tunis and the governorates of Gabès, Médenine, Sfax and Tataouine.
The franchise in Greater Tunis will include a 1,240 km wastewater collection network serving 231,000 public service subscribers. The contract will see the prospective operator resume responsibility for 52 pumping stations and a 40,000 m³ per day wastewater treatment plant.
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The second and largest franchise for wastewater management in the governorates of Gabès, Médenine, Sfax and Tataouine will comprise of 1,898 km of wastewater collection networks, 106 pumping stations and 14 wastewater treatment plants with a cumulative capacity of 137,000 m³ per day and serving more than 167,000 subscribers.
According to report by La Presse de Tunisie, the two contracts will include the initial upgrading and major maintenance-renewal (GER) work and also the operation and maintenance of the works.
The franchisees will be required to define and carry out all the rehabilitation work of the sanitation facilities granted, as well as additional deodorization and disinfection work. The ESM works will be entirely financed by the Tunisian government.
Onas manages 17,500 km of wastewater collection network connected to 795 pumping stations and 122 wastewater treatment plants in Tunisia.
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Tunisia, under Mediterranean Sea Programme (MedProgramme), declared its plans to rehabilitate 10 wastewater treatment plants in the country to prevent pollution of the Mediterranean by sewage.
The programme, launched in June this year, spans across 10 countries bordering the Mediterranean including Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Albania, Algeria, Libya, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Turkey.
MedProgramme seeks to reduce nutrient and chemical pollution across the Mediterranean region and build the capacity of affected populations. Global Environment Facility (GEF) has allocated US $43 million grant for the programme.
