La Gogue dam is expected to be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2023, according to the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC).
The company’s project coordinator, Erna Victor, made the statement yesterday afternoon following a visit to the site by the head of state, President Wavel Ramkalawan and the Chinese ambassador to Seychelles, Guo Wei, accompanied by high government and Chinese officials.
The delegation visited the dam to assess the progress made so far on the project which started in January 2018, and which was expected to be completed within two years.
The plan was to raise the La Gogue dam by six metres to increase its storage capacity by 60 percent.
According to Ms Victor, after many delays due to protest by truckers at the beginning of the project who were demanding to be allocated the transportation component of the project, the ongoing effect of Covid-19, the unavailability of cement on the local market, and adverse weather conditions, the project is now nearing completion after nearly five years.
“We had some additional work on the south saddle dam to protect the slope and some piling work on the right embankment, which have now been completed,” explained Ms Victor.
She said PUC will start filling up the dam at the end of November and this will be done gradually so as to monitor the dam; a normal procedure after each project.
“We do the monitoring for safety reasons, both for the public and our staff, as well as to ensure there is no technical issues such as seepage or other faults with the structure, before we commission it for full usage,” she added.
PUC expects this procedure to last around four months and according to Ms Victor, the company will also have to wait for the dam to be filled up before it can become operational at the end of the first quarter of next year.
It should be noted that PUC had budgeted R186 million for the project but have had to spend a total of R307 million on the dam, inclusive of tax.
According to Ms Victor, the additional cost was mainly due to unforeseen issues attributed to seepage control and slope stability which forced PUC to do additional work on the project.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the presidential delegation’s visit at the La Gogue dam yesterday.
Source: Seychelles Nation
