July 14, 2009 -- Mott MacDonald has been appointed by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) to prepare an investment plan and develop technical solutions for the second phase of the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative. The program has been initiated to support investments for water and sanitation improvement projects in the Lake Victoria Region. This lake is the world's second largest freshwater lake and the largest in Africa.
The LVBC's initiative is being developed to help the thousands of people who live in towns around the lake, depending on it for their livelihoods. The program will also improve the environmental and aquatic health of the lake, covering designs for water, sanitation, solid waste and drainage infrastructure to improve supply and quality. Fifteen towns will be involved with three projects in each of the five East African Community countries of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The selected fifteen towns all have a population of between 50,000 and 100,000 people.
Mott MacDonald will be working closely with local communities, local government and water ministries. The program will involve a high degree of engagement and consultation with local communities and their stakeholders. All proposals will also be subject to detailed social, environmental and financial impact analyses to establish basic needs and help ensure that they are met sustainably by the program. As well as developing long term investment plans for the fifteen towns, Mott MacDonald's team will help to design short term interventions to give more immediate improved access to water supply such as providing piped supplies, public tap stands and water kiosks.
Paul Turner, Mott MacDonald's project director said, "We are delighted to be appointed on this important project. It is thought that Lake Victoria supports a population of around 30 million people. The lake is a major trans-boundary natural resource that is used heavily by its boundary countries for fisheries, transportation, tourism, water supply and waste disposal. Achieving widespread changes in sanitation and solid waste management will have a huge impact on the lake and the sustainability of the communities it supports, helping to improve the lives of some of East Africa's poorest people."
The project is due for completion by December 2009.
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