Clean Water for Bertoua

DHV Group
Borehole drilling near Abong Mbang
Still, during his field visit Mr. Frank Jansink observed that borehole drilling was ongoing at a site near
Abong Mbang.
It appears that from Phase 3 onwards 3 or 4 standard ‘designs’ are being used, with fixed unit prices:
– Type A spring protection, difficult: CFA 3,900,000 9 or: € 5945 (e.g. Bartombo, Bertoua II, Ndoumbi
A);
– Type B spring protection, medium; CFA 2,600,000 or: € 3964 (e.g. Bonice);
– Type C spring protection, easy: CFA 1,650,000 or: € 2515 (e.g. Gouverneur);
– Hand-dug well: CFA 3,500,000 (€ 5336) + CFA 2,500,000 (€ 3811) for handpump (inclusive of
import duties, customs, transport)
Local conditions differ, however, and apparently the contractor has to fit actual costs within the fixed unit
price. This has – in several cases – adversely influenced the quality of the structures, notably by the
omission of reinforcement steel to save on total costs. In general, there appears to be little or no check on
actual costs of construction. As a consequence, the quality of works completed recently appears to be
lacking.
3.5 Project implementation and management capacity
The Water Committee of RC Bertoua, and specifically its Chairman, plays an important role in the local
realization of the Project. The relatively small membership of RC Bertoua could be considered a risk, as
replacement of members of the Water Committee in case of need may be difficult to realize. The Rotary
Club Bertoua has set a target to grow from the current 6 members to 12 members in 2010 and 20
members in the more distant future, but there is no indication when this could be realized – if at all.
Local contractors implement the project. The first of these, Laurent Esse, worked 19 years for Care, and
thus gained an extensive experience with springs and wells. He was involved from the start of the project,
but was subsequently replaced by another contractor. The reason for this was mentioned to be his
9
A cost break-down given by Abidjane for a spring protection type A results in a total of CFA 4,180,000 or: € 6372, as
follows:
Preparation: CFA 30,000 (€ 46, or: 0.7%)
Earthwork: CFA 800,000 (€ 1,220, or: 19.1%)
Foundation, concrete, stone walls, spring tapping structure, drainage channel: CFA 1,500,000 (€ 2,287, or: 35.9%)
Storage tanks, slabs, floor, stairs, laundry slab, drainage: CFA 1,700,000 (€ 2,591, or: 40.7%)
Miscellaneous works: CFA 150,000 (€ 229, or: 3.6%)
Rotary / Inbo / Cordaid/Clean Water for Bertoua, Cameroon November 2010, version 5
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