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Minister Loustau-Lalanne happy with construction work on La Gogue Dam |22 June 2019

Minister Loustau-Lalanne happy with construction work on La Gogue Dam

Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning Minister Maurice Loustau-Lalanne has said he is very satisfied with the work that has been done so far on the La Gogue Dam.  

Minister Loustau-Lalanne and Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) chief executive Philip Morin were part of a senior delegation from the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning (MFTIEP) and PUC who conducted a site visit at the La Gogue Dam yesterday morning to view progress made on the site.

Also present were representatives of Sinohydro, the main contractor of the project and representatives from Studio Pietrangeli, a consultancy company based in Italy. Sinohydro is a Chinese company based in Mauritius.

Work is under way to raise the level of the dam by six metres so as to increase its water storage capacity. Work is expected to be completed by the end of May 2020. On completion of the project, the dam which will be 45 metres deep, will have an additional 600,000 cubic metres of water in storage capacity, 60% over the current figure which stands at one million cubic metres in storage capacity.

“I am very happy. I can see that all the workers on site whether they are from PUC, from the consultant or from the main contractor, Sinohydro, are all very enthusiastic as it is not every day that they get to work on a project of such magnitude. All these experts are extremely motivated to hand over the finished job on time by the end of May 2020. I would like to congratulate them on the work done so far,” said Minister Loustau-Lalanne.

He added: “We should keep our fingers crossed that we won’t have any rain for the next two or three months so that we can dry the dam.”

Minister Loustau-Lalanne said that rainfall over the few days has contributed to delays in the advancement of the project, noting that it had already encountered a four-month delay when negotiating the contract between the Pick-up, Plant and Truck Hire Association (PPTHA) and Sinohydro.

According to Mr Loustau-Lalanne, work on the dam is roughly over 45% complete and he noted that he has got the assurance from the contractor that the project will be delivered on time in May next year.

The project to raise the level of the dam is being undertaken by Sinohydro at a cost of R190 million. Work on the dam started four months later than the initial time frame of February 2017 due to intense negotiation on working contract between Sinohydro and PPTHA. According to PUC at that time in 2017, the delays were costing R250,000 as additional cost per day. The PPTHP has now been awarded a contract to carry construction materials only but has not been awarded contract for carrying earth which was the main part of the initial negotiation.

Work on the project started with tree-cutting and rock blasting for the clearing of designated areas for the removal of heavy earth for the main body of the dam. The compacting of earth on the main body of the dam is still ongoing while alongside a bigger and larger spillway for excess water is being built. A road will also be built all around the dam. It will be fenced off to prevent access to the dam by unauthorised people.

With the dam now drained at 13% and is to be drained completely, Mr Morin has once again urged PUC customers to store water for consumption to avoid any eventuality that may happen especially with the upcoming dry season.

He noted that the loan scheme for water tanks is still on and people can continue to apply. He also advised members of the public to use water wisely.

Mr Morin has further advised onlookers to refrain from going to the construction site at La Gogue to view the state of the dam as accidents may occur while work is in progress. He said PUC will post pictures of the dam in all dimensions regularly on television and other media sites for people who want to view the transformation of the site.

The La Gogue reservoir project falls under the Seychelles’ 2008-2030 Water Development Plan. It is financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Middle-Income Country Technical Assistance Fund and the Seychelles government. The dam was built in 1976.

The accompanying photographs show the delegation touring the site yesterday.

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