Business
NWSC to provide affordable water and sanitation to nearly 1m Kampala slum dwellers
KAMPALA: National Water and Sewerage Corporation with the support of the Government of Uganda is implementing the Kampala Water Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation (KW-LVWATSAN) project. One component of the KW-LVWATSAN project is the “Package 5B: Construction of Water and Sanitation Improvement Infrastructure in the Informal Settlements of Kampala Project”, bound to provide affordable safe water supply to an additional 400,000 residents of all low-income settlements in Kampala and improve access to sanitation for 250,000 city dwellers.
The project whose contract was penned on 2nd February 2022, is co-funded by the KfW Development Bank (KfW) with 20 Million Euros and the French Development Agency (AFD) which is extending 9 Million Euros with counterpart funding from Government of Uganda which will contribute 8 Million Euros.
The corporation intends to achieve its goal with the construction of a new 400,000 liters per day Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) in Nalukolongo. This treatment plant shall receive sludge collected from pit latrines and septic tanks in Kampala and neighboring suburbs of Wakiso district in service of premises that are not within reach of the sewer lines. It will provide the long-awaited relief for the Lubigi FSTP that has been operating at full capacity. Notably, its strategic location West of Kampala is in line with the concept of decentralization of treatment plants with a balanced distribution across the City in accordance with the Kampala Sanitation Masterplan.
The facility will also shorten the distance that cesspool emptier trucks have to travel from points of sludge generation to the plant with the expectation that pit and septic tank emptying services shall become more affordable for the low-income earners.
NWSC also intends to install 2,500 communal prepaid meters in all informal settlements around the city and augmentation of the water supply network through laying 70km of water pipelines. Over 150,000 families shall benefit from having water points closer to their residences at the pro-poor tariff of 25 Uganda Shillings per 20 liter jerican.
The construction of 30 large new public toilets at busy public places in different parts spread over all five Divisions of the City and the renovation and upgrading of 10 existing public toilets are also in consideration to best achieve this project. The new toilets shall have the added benefit of a commercial rooftop to supplement income and improve sustainability of operations. Furthermore, the toilets contain features such as dedicated facilities for changing babies and people with disabilities. These toilets shall be handed over to KCCA upon completion of construction.
The corporation will construct new school sanitation blocks at 9 KCCA affiliated public schools which shall greatly improve the pupil to stance ratio.
The project also has a hygiene promotion and sanitation marketing component to support all the physical infrastructure to ensure maximum benefits of the project are achieved and sustained.
That said, the infrastructure interventions shall be implemented at a cost of 29 million Euros (excluding Value Added Tax). The Works Contractor for the project is Hebei Construction Group Co. Ltd. (China) with Vambeco Enterprises Ltd. as the local subcontractor. Whereas Fichtner Water Consultant & Transportation GmbH is the supervision consultant in association with M&E Associates Ltd.
The project works are expected to be completed by December 2024.
