Minister satisfied with drainage projects in northern region |04 September 2017

A delegation from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change and other relevant ministries visited four drainage projects in the northern region of Mahé on Friday.

The aim of the visit was to view and assess the projects that have been or about to be completed ahead of the rainy season.

The first two sites were at North East Point where the Ministry of Local Government have financed a project at La Retraite near the Home for the Elderly and another in Lower La Gogue.

Both projects contracted out to Sicobo Construction started over a month and a half ago. While the La Gogue project has been completed, the one at La Retraite is still ongoing and is expected to be finished by the end of this month.

The Lower La Gogue drainage project has cost R347,000 and the one at La Retraite will cost around R332,000.

A senior project officer from the local government, Kitson Mondelly, said a feasibility study was done following complaints from the residents to see how many homes were being affected.

“We constructed drainage pipes (rigol) connecting to houses to keep from flooding in Lower La Gogue while at La Retraite the drainage was widened from about 1 metre to 1.5 metres and we allowed the existing marsh to flow directly in the ocean,” he said.

He said their aim was to remove water that was gathering by the roadside and affecting the houses in the area.

“At the local government we look forward to implement projects which benefit the community and to ensure the community is happy with the projects we undertake,” he said.

The delegation then headed to Beau Vallon in the Dan Berlin area where the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change has financed a drainage project followed by a site visit to Pascal Village where the drainage project has been financed by the Ministry of Habitat, Infrastructure and Land Transport (MHILT).

The MHILT has however provided technical support for all the four drainage projects.

The project in Dan Berlin which cost R1.35 started over six weeks ago and it relieves a flow from three different rivers originating from St Louis and Le Niole.

The drainage has been lined and elevated and numerous families will be benefiting from the project.

The project at Pascal Village which started over a year ago has been completed through two phases where a retaining wall has been built, the embankment has been raised and the base has been smoothened.

The first phase has cost R1.8 million and the second phase R1.6 million.

The Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change Didier Dogley, who was heading the delegation, said as the dry season comes to an end, the ministry needed to ensure that they are up to date with the drainage projects they invested in.

“So far the drainage that I have seen at Anse Etoile and Beau Vallon are being well done and they have been done in record time which is excellent compared to many cases in the past where we had problems of drainage projects taking longer than they were supposed to. The contractors have really given us value for our money which is something we have always been looking for,” he said.

The minister said his satisfaction derives from the fact that the families living in these areas will not be suffering from the same fate of the past where they faced flooding during stormy weather and heavy rainfall.

“We will have to wait for the rainy season to arrive to be able to measure how effective the work that has been done is but in general we are optimistic that it will resolve the problems we previously faced,” he said.

He said the site visits started in the north but will move to the south over the next few weeks.

 Minister Dogley pointed out that his ministry had a budget of R6.5 million for this year in regards of drainage projects.

“This is not enough as the demand for drainage is very high, so all the money has been invested and all the projects will be implemented by the end of the year,” he said.

He stated that results show for itself when there is good collaboration between ministries and approval from the community.

The delegation also included the principal secretary for energy and climate change Wills Agricole, technicians and representatives from various ministries and district representatives of Anse Etoile and Beau Vallon. 

The accompanying photos show the ministerial delegation visiting the various projects in the north.