The Senegalese Ministry of Water and Sanitation, on Monday, signed the execution mandate of the sustainable drinking water supply project for the city of Touba and its surroundings.
With a constant increase in its population, Touba has become one of the most dynamic localities in Senegal.
However, the religious city has long been facing a problem of drinking water supply, especially during the periods of the Grand Magal, one of the most important religious events in the country.
These difficulties are about to become a distant memory after the Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, signed the execution mandate.
The project is part of the Grand Transfer of Water (GTE) of Lake de Guiers, a freshwater source of nearly 300 km located in the north of the country.
The GTE, also known as “Water Highways,” is an ambitious program of the new authorities aimed at sustainably meeting the drinking water needs of the Dakar-Mbour-Thies and Touba triangle, cities experiencing rapid demographic and economic growth.
In addition, the project dedicated to the religious city “includes the construction of a raw water treatment plant from Lake de Guiers, the renewal of the water supply network, and the strengthening of storage capacities to ensure sustainable access to drinking water for Touba and its surroundings,” Mr. Dieye explained to the general directors of the National Water Company of Senegal (SONES) and the Office of Rural Drilling (OFOR), as well as representatives of the General Caliph of the Mouride Brotherhood, Serigne Mountakha Mbacke.
The minister also stressed that the initiative is part of the strategic vision of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in the materialisation of the new framework for public policies based on Vision Senegal 2050. It responds to the priorities expressed by Serigne Mountakha Mbacke, under the strong commitment of the government and Prime Minister Mr. Ousmane Sonko, he concluded.
ODL/Sf/te/fss/as/APA