Yaounde, surrounding communities: Energy minister commissions multi-billion facilities for steady water supply.

Minister Eloundou Essomba commissioned the facilities associated with the project at a heavily attended ceremony in Emana-Batchenga, Lekie Division of the Centre Region, Tuesday. 

This was in the presence of several members of government among them: Prof Nalova Lyonga, Minister of Secondary Education; Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education; Dr Taiga, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry; Mbah Acha Rose Fomundam, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of the Supreme State Audit Office; Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development; Joseph Le, Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform; Prof Marie-Therese Abena Ondoa, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family; Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, Minister of Trade; Gabriel Mbairobe, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Secretary of State to the Minister of Public Works in charge of Roads, Armand Ndjodom; Secretary of State to the Minister of Defense in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Yves Galax Etoga Landry; Minister Delegate to the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Jean De Dieu Momo; Minister Delegate to the Minister of Finance, Yaouba Abdoulaye, among others.

Project realisation breakthrough

According to Minister Eloundou Essomba, the realisation of the project is a breakthrough, especially in solving the estimated 250,000 cubic metre daily deficit that Yaounde has been suffering from for years. 

With the commissioning, the minister said Yaounde and its environs are certain to start receiving 300,000 cubic metres of potable water from the plant. The capacity is expandable to 400,000 cubic metres per day.

Eloundou Essomba also said the completion of the project is a demonstration of the Head of State, President Paul Biya’s, commitment to improving the living conditions of Cameroonians.

Besides Yaounde, the commissioning of the installations, the minister said, also marks a new dawn for potable water supply for the localities of Obala, Nyom and Batchenga.

The member of government further said the water will not only improve public health but also strengthen socioeconomic development and combat poverty. 

These, he said, are the fruits of President Paul Biya's commitments to better the lives of Cameroonians.

He said government will continue to extend water supply and also rehabilitate existing potable water infrastructure. The facilities, he said, will continue to meet the potable water need of the population untill 2040.

Fresh 10 billion FCFA to boost water extension

Minister Eloundou Essomba used yesterday’s event to disclose that the Head of State, President Paul Biya, has ordered the mobilisation of 10 billion FCFA to boost potable water supply in Yaounde.

The money, which he said will be put at the service of the Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation, CAMWATER, will see some 200,000 new households in Yaounde connected to steady potable water supply. This, he said, will mean one million more persons having access to potable water.

Stakeholders hail project

Speakers at the event, such as the Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon, Wang Yingwu, saluted the project, describing it as the fruit of Sino-Cameroon relations. 

He reiterated China’s commitment to remain a key player in the implementation of the National Development Strategy, SND 2020-2030.

The Mayor of Batchenga, Anatole Suga; the traditional ruler of  Batchenga, His Royal Majesty Etuga Gabriel, and the City Mayor of  Yaounde, Luc Messi Atanga, all said the project’s completion is a great relieve to the population.

Installations of project

Its first facility is a raw water catchment and pumping station on the left bank of the River Sanaga. It is located 300 meters downstream on the Natchtigal Bridge.

It has a pumping capacity of 315,000 cubic meters per day. The facility has seven pumps that supplies raw mater to treatment plant located in Emana-Batchenga. 

The treatment plant found some 7.7 kilometers upstream has coagulation, sterilization and treatment tanks. It also has equipment control and command rooms.

There is the Nkometou III treated water pumping station. It has a pumping capacity of 295,000 cubic meters per day. Of this volume of water, 285,000 cubic meters is sent to a pumping station in the locality of Nyom II and 10,000 cubic meters is supplied to the locality of Obala by gravity.

Additionally, there is a reinforced concrete reservoir located on Mount Nindan with a 6,000 cubic meters capacity and connected to an already existing 2000 cubic meters reservoir. This supplies water by gravity to water towers and other reservoirs in Yaounde.

Overall, water is transported through ductile pipes over a distance of over 102 kilometers. Water is discharged from the Emana-Batchenga treatment plant to the Ndindan Reservoir that supplies Yaounde over a distance of about 55 kilo meters.

The Ndindan Reservoir also supplies water to the Djougolou Water Tower and other reservoirs found at Ngoa-Ekelle through connection to a main distribution point at the entrance of the Central Mosque in the Bisquiterie vicinity in Yaounde.

Unique power supply system

The PAEPYS project has its unique power supply system. There is a power substation at Nyom II and a power transformation station at Nkometou III. 

There is a 90 kilovolts power transmission line from Nyom II to Nkometou III. Then, there is another 30 kilovolts power line from the Nkometou Substation to the water treatment plan at Emana Batchanga. 

There is also another 30 kilovolts power transmission line from the treatment centre to the Raw Water Pumping station at the Nachtigal Bridge. To note that all these installations have modern homes constructed to host staff  running them.

It should be recalled that the PAEPYS project was engaged in 2016. It is multibillion project of close to 399 billion FCFA that has taken 90 months to complete. 85 percent of the funding was through a loan from the Exim Bank of China while the government put in 15 percent.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3205 of Wednesday August 21, 2024