VEI extends water operator partnership with Lilongwe water board, Malawi
Vitens Evides International (VEI) and Lilongwe Water Board will continue the good partnership that they have built up in Malawi over the past years. Director Marco Schouten of VEI and general manager Alfonso Chikuni of Lilongwe Water Board signed a further four-year Water Operator Partnership (WOP).
The signing ceremony took place in the head office of the Dutch water supply company WML in Maastricht, the Netherlands, on 15 July.
VEI-director Marco Schouten (left) and general manager Alfonso Chikuni of Lilongwe water board.
Performance contract
Lilongwe Water Board and VEI have decided to conclude a performance contract to the value of 1.6 million euro. The contract is a continuation of the partnership between both parties. The implementation of the contract will be financed by the water company of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi.
VEI is committed to the delivery of concrete results on the basis of a financial incentive that will subsequently flow back into the project to further enhance the performance of the company.
Water kiosks for low income communities
Vitens Evides International is a cooperation between Dutch water supply companies and supports water providers in developing countries. VEI has been active in Malawi since 2009.
Waste collection in Lilongwe includes faecal sludge.
With funds from the European Union and the European Investment Bank, it has, together with non-governmental organisation Simavi and consultancy firm Royal HaskoningDHV, invested approximately 30 million euro in water kiosks for the low income communities and in improving the infrastructure and performance of the drinking water company of Lilongwe.
"This partnership is aimed at achieving measurable and tangible results which we will monitor", says Marco Schouten, director of VEI. ‘It is a good way of working together and offers interesting future perspectives. I hope it will encourage other water companies to follow our lead. I look forward to a fruitful partnership with the water company of Lilongwe.’
About Vitens Evides International
Vitens Evides International supports local water companies in developing and transition countries to improve their operations, become financially healthy and extend their services to the urban poor. It is active in multiple-year partnerships with local companies, mainly in Africa and Sout-East Asia.
VEI was established in 2005 by the two largest Dutch water supply companies Vitens and Evides. In recent years three other companies, Waterleidingmaatschappij Limburg, Waterbedrijf Groningen and PWN Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland, also joined forces with VEI.
About Lilongwe water board
Lilongwe Water Board is a water utility organization in Malawi established in 1947 and its board is mandated to supply potable water to the capital city of Lilongwe (800,000 inhabitants) and the surrounding areas. Its clients include domestic, institutional, industrial as well as commercial customers.
The board abstracts its raw water from Lilongwe River where two dams are constructed. It operates two water treatment plants with a combined capacity of 95,000 cubic meters per day. There are about 40,000 metered customers and more than 600 water kiosks (communal water selling points) within the city.
This news item was originally published on the website of Vitens Evides International.
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More information
Vitens Evides International
Utrecht, the Netherlands
+31 88 884 79 91
www.vitensevidesinternational.com
Lilongwe water board
Lilongwe, Malawi
+265 1 750 366
www.lwb.mw