US $22 million to boost water storage capacity |08 April 2015

Seychelles has secured US $22 million, comprising a loan and a grant, to finance a project to increase the country’s water storage capacity.

The sum to finance the Mahé Sustainable Water Augmentation project was approved by the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) board on April 1 and the funding comprises a loan of US $20.60 million from the AfDB and a US $1.40 million grant from the Middle-Income Country Technical Assistance Fund. The Seychelles government will provide the remaining US $3.995 million towards the US $26 million project.

The money will go mainly towards raising the level of the country’s main reservoir – La Gogue dam – which supplies water to the population on the main island of Mahé and the building of a central water treatment plant to supply water for residents of the northern region of the island.

The level of the La Gogue dam will be raised by six metres, increasing its capacity by 60 per cent. Work on raising the La Gogue dam is expected to start by the end of 2016 or early 2017.

This project falls under the Seychelles’ 2008-2030 Water Development Plan.
The reservoir built around 1976 in La Gogue can presently hold one million cubic metres of water.