President Danny Faure, accompanied by a team of technicians, visited the La Gogue Dam this morning. The objective of the visit was to assess the progress of construction and obtain onsite updates on the expansion project of the dam.
The President was greeted and guided around the site by the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), Mr Phillip Morin, and member of the PUC Board, Dr Selwyn Gendron. During the tour, President Faure had the chance to talk to the main contractor and consultant of the project and get clarifications on technical aspects of the project. The President commended the team for the progress made so far despite the various challenges and given the complexity of such a project.
Work is currently well under way to raise the level of the dam by six metres in order to increase the water storage capacity. According to Mr Morin, over 45 percent of the work has been completed. He took the opportunity to brief President Faure on work that has intensified to complete the barrier and spillway. However despite progress made on the projects, the President was also briefed on the challenges being encountered such as the persisting rainy season which in return will cause a delay in the handing over of the project, originally due for end of May 2020 and now postponed to June 2020.
Also present for the visit was the Deputy CEO of PUC, Mr Joel Valmont, representatives of Sinohydro, the main contractor of the project, and representatives of Studio Pietrangeli, Italy-based consultant.
Upon completion, the La Gogue dam which is 45 metres deep, will have an additional 600,000 cubic metres of water in storage capacity, 60% over the current figure which stands at one million cubic metres in storage capacity. The La Gogue reservoir project falls under the Seychelles’ 2008-2030 Water Development Plan and is being financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Middle-Income Country Technical Assistance Fund and the Seychelles government. The dam was built in 1976.
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