French Government boosts development in NE

The rehabilitated and upgraded Kantale water treatment plant under the Greater Trincomalee Integrated Water Supply Project financed by the Republic of France was handed over to the Water Board by French Ambassador Christine Robichon recently.

The existing infrastructure for the supply of drinking water to Trincomalee was carried out by a consortium of French companies in the early 1980s. The present project will include the rehabilitation of this existing infrastructure and the construction of new facilities to contain 12 million gallons supply capacity and will supply water for 300,000 inhabitants. Assistance for this project is provided by France through two channels, Euros 12.5 million by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry and Euros 10.35 million by the French Development Agency.

The project will complement the Trincomalee Integrated Infrastructure Program financed by the French Development Agency through a very concessional loan of Euros 69 million. The program focuses on the construction and rehabilitation of public infrastructure in the district of Trincomalee, such as roads (the A15 road between Trincomalee and Thirukkodiyamadu, the B10 road between Kantale and the seashore and the C-Class coastal road), bridges (five bridges on the A15), the networks for water supply and distribution of electricity, and community development infrastructure(schools, libraries, medical centres).

There are two French companies involved in the project - 'Societe du Canal de Provence' (SCP) which has a long established presence in Sri Lanka running back to several decades and 'VINCI Construction Grands Projects', which was selected through tendering, is one of the leading building and civil engineering companies in the world.

In Sri Lanka, France has a long history of partnership with the Water Board. France will co-finance (US Dollars 45 million) together with the Government of Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank to the Jaffna and Kilinochchi Water Supply and Sanitation Project. Access to safe water is a fundamental human right as water is essential for living.