French envoy at Saidabad Water Treatment Plant

The Ambassador of France to Bangladesh, Jean-Marin Schuh along with Fanny Nesen, project officer in charge of the water and sanitation sector of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) in Dhaka recently visited the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Dwasa) headquarters.

The visit included a tour of the Saidabad 1 and 2 water treatment plants, said a press release.

The visit served as an opportunity to renew the French Government's commitments toward the Government of Bangladesh. Through AFD, the French Government is financing 167 million euros of water projects in Bangladesh, which will supply an additional 950,000 cubic metres of drinking water to Dhaka.

Ambassador Jean-Marin Shuh visited the Saidabad 1 and 2 water treatment plants, constructed by the French company Degremont (Suez). The envoy also visited the site of the Saidabad 3 water treatment plant being financed by AFD, along with KfW, Danida and the European Investment Bank.  This project will double the current site's production capacity and once complete, Saidabad will be the largest water treatment plant in Asia.

Jean-Marin Schuh said, "These projects are the results of the continuous presence of France in the water sector in Bangladesh, completing an ambitious process started with the visit of President Mitterrand in 1991 and his commitment to contribute to the major works aimed at domesticating the floods which ravaged the country"."

The project is in line with the Government of Bangladesh's decision to replace the extraction of groundwater with the treatment of surface water, in order to meet the city's growing demand. For this reason, the Saidabad treatment plant, like the Gandharbpur treatment plant also financed by AFD, will use water from the the Meghna River.