WATER SHORTAGE: MUKESH leaves PUC with 25 million US dollars flushed down the drain!
The news that Mukesh Valabhji had relinquished the Chairmanship of PUC last week was calculated to give President Michel a much needed boost that he is indeed his own man. Unfortunately, Michel’s troubles do not end here. He is now in a position to investigate the fiasco that is the Desalination Plants installed at great cost to the taxpayers in this country.
The reality of water shortages in Seychelles became all too apparent this week. In a chic restaurant in town this week some tourists were heard complaining about the filthy toilet next to the restaurant without a drop of water. The poor owner was trying her level best to explain to the clearly exasperated tourists that around this time of the year there is a drought in Seychelles and everywhere they will go they will encounter the same problem. “It is not my fault” she lamented. This got me thinking, you see. The government took out a loan of twenty-five million dollars (USD 25,000,000) not so long ago to invest in a desalination plant. Did not Mr. France Albert Rene (FAR) go on TV to announce that water shortages and droughts will be a thing of the past?
Critics have pointed out that unlike the Middle East where 3 passes (Filtration Process) are installed to desalinate the water in 3 phases thus resulting in crystal clear water fit for human consumption, it is unfortunate that in Seychelles only one pass (Filtration Process) has been installed. Therefore the salinity of the end product may not be safe to drink. Experts have also pointed out that Bi-water, the company contracted to install our plant has never installed desalination project on that scale before. Not so long ago the government commissioned a report from a Water Committee chaired by Minister Ronny Jumeau who concluded that we lose 75% of our water through leakage because of old and leaking water pipes installed during the Colonial days. The government has not done anything about the report since presumably like all other reports commissioned by the government it is lying somewhere gathering dust on a shelf crying for attention.
In the meantime the people of Seychelles continue to suffer from the endemic problem of water shortages. Immediately before the election unlimited water was running at great strength everywhere and there was no bowser to be seen anywhere in our Islands. Now just after the election we hear of water restrictions and water shortages everywhere. One wonders if the USD 25,000,000 could have been better spent building water reservoirs everywhere around our Islands to tackle the water problems similar to the one being built at upper Anse La Mouche. Better still why was the money not used to purchase and install new water pipes since this was identified as the problem in the report. One also questions the wisdom of taking such a large foreign exchange loan to invest in a desalination plant especially since there is an abundance of water during the rainy season which ends up in the sea. Quite recently we were inundated with water during the Tsunami. Ironically now we do not have one drop in our taps! Can someone in government explain this madness to the people? The Government of President Michel has a duty towards the electorate to conduct an in depth investigation and its findings made public, on the entire Desalination Project.
The question remains whether the Government paid Bi-Water the USD 25,000,000 for the desalination project delivered by the company? We know that the Government borrowed USD 25,000,000 to invest in the project. Did the Government actually invest the totality of the loan in the project? The people have a right to know.
