The Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters has recently signed a contract with a company called Heloika Energy for the construction of hundred and three boreholes across the country at the cost of 34 million Dalasis.
Lot 1A comprises of 50 large boreholes worth over 19 million Dalasi while and Lot 1B comprises of 53 small boreholes worth over 15 million Dalasi.
This borehole drilling initiative is a component under the Climate Smart Wash Development Project (CSRWASHDEP), a project under the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, whose main objectives are to increase access to safe and clean drinking water, sustainable water supply and to provide sanitation and hygiene facilities to the targeted communities in The Gambia.
Moreover, the CSRWASHDEP targets residents of rural and peri-urban communities, as well as deprived urban communities with poor waste management practices, and whose environment is facing increasing climate change threats such as flash flood and periods of extreme drought. A hundred and fifty-five communities will benefit from the Project which includes the provision of sanitary facilities to discourage open defecation.
As a mechanism for sustainable management of the borehole facilities, the Ministry through the Department and the Project, has established water committees in all the beneficiary communities throughout the country. These committees will be responsible for the management and proper up keep of the said facilities.
Each beneficiary community is required to open and maintain a bank account with a minimum amount of D25, 000 deposited on yearly basis for a period of five years. These moneys are collected, deposited, controlled and managed by each individual water committee in all the beneficiary communities and it would serve as fixed deposit for future maintenance of the water facilities after they would have been officially handed over to the said beneficiary communities at the end of the Project.
By Fatou Cham
