Solomon Water hasawarded a SBD19 million contract to French company SUEZ Consulting (SAFEGE) to carry out detailed design and contract preparation for various strategic water and waste-water projects in Honiara and the provinces.

"The design and contract preparation for these projects in Honiara and the provinces is a major step forwards in making improvements in water and waste-water infrastructure as part of our 30-year strategic plan” said Chief Executive Officer of Solomon Water, Ian Gooden. “We are grateful for the support of World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and EU who have made this work possible."

The projects aim to deliver a reliable water supply and improve water quality, reducing environmental pollution and improve Solomon Water’s services, all at an affordable price.

One major project to be funded under the initiative will be a filtration plant at Kongulai to help prevent water shutdowns in times of wet weather.

Other major projects include:

  1. Significant improvements to Honiara wastewater to stop sewage discharge into the Mataniko river and onto the ocean foreshore in some locations,
  2. Improvements to Auki, Noro and Tulagi water supply systems,
  3. Provision of water to Gizo and Munda,
  4. Improving water storage and transmission mains in Honiara,
  5. Reducing theft and leakage of water in all locations, and
  6. Improving organizational capacity, customer service and depot facilities.

The design works for the major projects has commenced and the project will run for up to 14 months.