Algeria water minister warns against foreign consultancies
Algerian water minister Abdelmalek Sellal
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.
- The cells will supervise dam projects. The Algerian water company sealed a deal with two consultancies from Switzerland and France.
- “The consultancy and the project owner must have different nationality to avoid complicity,” said the minister.
- 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.”
- 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.
- “The State’s strategy is to reach food security in the agricultural sector,” he said.
- 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.