Somaliland: Forty Companies Competing to Expand Hargeisa’s Water System
By: Abdirisak Itaqile
Hargeisa, 26 Feb 2014 (SDN) – More than 40 companies from around the world are trying to win a tender to expand Hargeisa’s aged water system; this was revealed by the director of Hargeisa Water Agency and Minister of Water Resources.
In joint press conference today both the minister and the director announced the fierce competition between forty companies around the world to win a European Union funded tender of expanding Hargeisa’s aged water system that was built by the Chinese in the 1970s.
Director of Hargeisa Water Agency Mr. Ibrahim Said speaking during the press briefing said, “The visiting representatives of the 40 firms came to the country after the UN-Habitat which has been tasked to oversee the expansion of the Hargeisa water advertised the contract on behalf of the EU which will be providing the funds for the project and representatives of those firms will be in the coming days visit the main sources of water that supply the city of Hargeisa and they will also visit the eastern and northern areas of Hargeisa which are currently receiving little or no water all.
“The representatives of the at least 40 firms from Africa, Asia and Europe present here today are those ones who have placed their tenders and have been invited here today to do assessments and evaluate the expansion work needed to be done for the Hargeisa water supply.
The Minister of Water Resources Hon Hussein Mohamed Abdille said, “Further the additional water will see an increase of household connections and a sharp reduction in water trucking to the capital through un-hygienic water tankers pumping water from contaminated shallow riverbed aquifers.
Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, has a rapidly growing population. The principal water infrastructure for the city was built in the 1970s, and is not only aged and dilapidated, but also cannot meet the growing demand for clean, potable water. Hargeisa’s limited water availability is a critical shortcoming in essential service delivery, and seriously impedes the right to water access and local economic development.
HUWSUP will replace the current twin-transmission main that runs from the principal well field at Geed Deeble to Hargeisa with a high-capacity, single pipeline. This action will dramatically increase the capacity of Hargeisa’s system of supply from the current average of 9 million litres to a maximum capacity of 20 million litres a day: a 122 percent increase.
Upgrading the pumping and booster facilities will put in place up-to-date and cost-efficient technology, further securing the system for the long term.
By re-drilling and rehabilitating the existing boreholes, and developing new ones, HUWSUP will increase the water supply by a minimum of 3.5 million litres every day, bringing Hargeisa closer to international minimum standards for urban water consumption. This water will be safe and affordable, improving the lives of Hargeisa residents.
SDN Hargeisa