The Acting Departmental Head of the Water Commission Mr. Jean Carlo Botsar kicked off the event with his words: “This is the biggest challenge our island has ever faced, strategies to increase production are paramount to meet the demand.
Then it was the turn of Mr. Claude Emmanuel Wong So, O.S. K, chairman of the Rodrigues Public Utilities Corporation (RPUC) to paint a picture of the situation. We need to solve the water problems. We do not want to relive what we experienced in November and December 2022. The RPUC will put in place a roadmap, for how to increase by June 2023, on the instructions of the chief commissioner and his executive team, who give us all their support, we need to produce in Rodrigues, 12,000- 13,000 meters of water per day. ”
Franceau Grancourt succeeded him by recalling that at the level of the commission, we have started to clean the rivers, organize water retention tanks, and restore our dams that were once beneficial to the population. The commissioner of public infrastructure and environment added that his government will review how to introduce a regulation with the building permit to make mandatory the water catchment for all those who seek a building permit.
Then it was the turn of the Chief Commissioner Mr. Johnson Roussety, G.O.S.K., Chief Commissionner and Commissionner for water Resources, to open the water conference.
“The task ahead of us is daunting. However, we have the will and determination to tackle the water problem in Rodrigues and we aim to significantly end the water problem in Rodrigues. It is therefore the duty of the government to act to provide adequate water and sanitation facilities to its population in line with the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) specifically SDG-6; to ensure access to water for all.
“The first SIDPR report in 2009 concluded that the water production and distribution system at the time was archaic. In my first term as chief commissioner, we attempted sector reform only to reluctantly watch the reform dismantle starting in 2012. There is no way out, if we do not restructure, reorganize and re-institutionalise the water sector in Rodrigues, the problem will worsen and the suffering of the population will increase,” he said.
“The people of Rodrigues must be well prepared for the arrival of water meters, to the bills, that’s how it works in all modern societies. We do not produce enough water at the natural level, drillings, rivers, springs to satisfy the demand. We need to develop, modernize, master the desalination tool and we are with the RPUC on the right track of training technicians.
The chief commissioner concluded with a message to local and foreign professionals: “We want a system that works, a pressurized water network for the whole island and that can meet the needs of Rodrigues. Together let’s make the water problems a thing of the past.
Four discussion groups were formed with a moderator for each. The first is Ground and Surface Water with J.H. Remy as moderator, the second, Legal and Institutional Framework with Chenlye Lamvohee as moderator, the third, Production of Desalinated Water with Claude Wong So as moderator, and the fourth Water Storage and Distribution with Jacques Edouard as moderator.
