Shortcomings in the water sector: The Prime Minister calls on the Ministers of Water Resources and Finance for a detailed action plan

The government is stepping up its efforts to revitalize the water sector. During the Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, July 1st, Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo outlined a strict roadmap for the Ministries of Water and Finance, demanding concrete and short-term measures to address the sector's chronic shortcomings.

The PM has, in fact, asked Cheikh Tidiane Dièye and Cheikh Diba "to set up a working group coordinated by the Prime Minister's office, with the aim of proposing, no later than the end of July, a detailed action plan to resolve the shortcomings identified."

To finance this ambition and ensure the sustainability of "major projects", the head of government stressed the imperative need to secure the required budget allocations, thus marking the State's commitment to making the water sector a financial priority.

"He also invited the Minister in charge of Water Resources to propose to him, by mid-July, a draft roadmap for the renegotiation of loan payment schedules, the transfer of financing, the payment of invoices and the resumption of work on the Sambangalou dam (on the Gambia River)," emphasizes the statement from the Council of Ministers, which specifies that this document will be proposed to the Head of State, so that he can "raise awareness among his counterparts in the member countries of the OMVG (Organization for the Development of the Gambia River)," with a view to "its approval by the Council of Ministers of this organization."

"The Prime Minister recalls that, despite the execution of most of the decisions taken during the inter-ministerial council of August 23, 2024, dedicated to the supply of drinking water, the sector is facing difficulties related to the completion of the institutional reform of rural hydraulics," confides the government spokesperson.