Algeria water minister warns against foreign consultancies

Algerian water minister Abdelmalek Sellal Sunday warned against falling in the “trap” of consultancies which favour foreign companies and experts.

• Abdelmalek Sellal called on every institution in water sector to not wait for help from foreign consultancies. They should set up follow up cells with the help of national executives.
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• The cells will supervise dam projects. The Algerian water company sealed a deal with two consultancies from Switzerland and France.
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• “The consultancy and the project owner must have different nationality to avoid complicity,” said the minister.
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• He added that public consultancies should be created to avoid field errors. “It does not matter if they ask for the help of foreign experts if there is cause for that.”
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• Sellal insisted on the use of locally produced pipelines. On the other hand, he admitted that Algeria could not modernise drinking water network sewers in rural areas.
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• “The State’s strategy is to reach food security in the agricultural sector,” he said.
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• He criticised a Korean company in charge of a project in Al Harrach Valley in Algiers. He said the company makes delays to gain time and raise profit margin.