La Gogue dam back in operation |30 June 2023
President Ramkalawan unveils the plaque to mark the inauguration of the completed project to raise the level of the La Gogue dam
After five years of work to raise the level of the La Gogue dam to increase its holding capacity, the infrastructure was inaugurated by President Wavel Ramkalawan during a ceremony on Wednesday.
Among those present at the ceremony were Vice-President Ahmed Afif, ministers and also individuals who have helped in one way or another with making the project a success.
Work to raise the level of the dam by six metres and increase its capacity by 60% started in 2018.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Climate Change & Environment Flavien Joubert who could not be present, Designated Minister Jean-François Ferrari noted that people’s wellbeing is closely tied to water availability and quality.
“Many countries face dramatic water scarcity as a fundamental challenge to their economy and social development and Seychelles is no different. The regular and safe supply of water is one of the greatest challenges facing our government today,” he said.
He added that in the quest to address the fair share of water problems, progress to built significant storage capacities in the likes of La Gogue dam has been slow due to the limited financial resources to meet the very high investment cost.
“The realisation of this project gives us hope that we are going in the right direction as it displays the government’s commitment to continuously improve our resilience to climate change and to continuously address the challenge of water insecurity,” he said.
For his part the chief executive of the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), Joel Valmont, said that since its conception the La Gogue dam has faithfully served the growing population.
“The dam was initially designed and built to be raised by 6 metres and that is what we have achieved. It has taken us five years to undertake the work to raise the dam,” he noted.
He noted that several setbacks, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, have contributed to the delay in realising the project.
He noted that to deal with two weak points noticed in 2020, the PUC had to compromise the construction of a water treatment plant and use the funds for technical works to reinforce and stabilise the dam.
He said in the final quarter of 2022 they managed to complete the project with their next challenge being the filling up of the dam to the level that it is today (82%) which will further be increased to maximum capacity.
“Today the La Gogue dam stands taller, resilient and proud; making a remarkable impression on all who behold this engineering feat,” he said.
The total cost of the project has amounted to R399 million rupees. It has been funded through a 20 million USD dollar loan from the African Development Bank and contribution from the government of Seychelles and PUC.
Diane Larame
Photos by Louis Toussaint
