The Malem-Hodar Departmental Development Committee (CDD) met under the chairmanship of Prefect Souleymane Ndiaye to discuss the issue of water management in rural areas. This important meeting, which brought together all stakeholders in the water sector, focused on establishing monitoring committees within the framework of the public water service delegation provided by FlexEau.

State services, the Rural Drilling Office (OFOR), FlexEau officials, local authorities, village chiefs, user representatives and other stakeholders took part in the discussions to think together about solutions to the drinking water supply difficulties faced by some localities in the department.

Through this participatory approach, FlexEau aims to strengthen its ties with local communities and improve the quality of service offered to users. The new monitoring committees will be tasked with gathering community concerns and contributing to the search for solutions tailored to local realities.

Opening the proceedings, Prefect Souleymane Ndiaye recalled that the State of Senegal opted for the delegation of the public water service in order to address the shortcomings observed in community management.

In this context, FlexEau was selected to operate the service in the department.

Acknowledging the ongoing difficulties, the prefect indicated that the discussions had identified several major concerns, including well failures, aging distribution networks, water leaks, and various constraints encountered in certain localities. He emphasized the need to establish a permanent framework for consultation, monitoring, and alerts in order to provide rapid responses to users' concerns.

Representing the Rural Drilling Office (OFOR), Adama Sow, division head, stressed that this meeting is part of the delegated management of the public water service implemented since 2019.

According to him, the fixed-term contract made it possible to take stock of the activities carried out in 2025, to identify the constraints encountered and to mobilize all stakeholders around the solutions to be implemented.

"The objective is to guarantee a proper supply of drinking water and to meet the needs of the populations in all the localities concerned," he said.

For his part, Abdou Aziz Diagne, the FlexEau operations manager in Kaffrine, welcomed the strong mobilization of the various stakeholders. He considered this meeting an important step in the search for sustainable solutions to the difficulties of accessing water in rural areas.

Discussions focused in particular on the state of hydraulic infrastructure, the obsolescence of certain networks, and water losses due to leaks and illegal connections.

Abdou Aziz Diagne invited the public to report any anomalies observed on the network in order to contribute to improving the service.

He also announced that the solarization of boreholes is continuing with encouraging results.

To date, FlexEau has carried out solarization of 230 boreholes out of the 307 it operates within its management area, thus improving water production in several localities.

At the end of the work, the participants reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening collaboration between state services, OFOR, FlexEau, local authorities and the population.

The establishment of monitoring committees thus appears as an essential local tool for sustainably improving the quality of the public water service and effectively addressing the concerns of users in the Malem-Hodar department.