SEAAL: The Contract With Suez May Not Be Renewed

An exclusive document, a copy of which is available to Echorouk, shows that the Ministry of Water Resources will not renew the contract with the French partner SUEZ company within the framework of the company to supply water and sanitation in the capital and Tipaza “SEAAL”, which expires next September.

In this context, a document for the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Water and Sanitation Company for the capital and Tipaza “SEAAL” under the supervision of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Algerian Water Company and the National Sanitation Office included a decision to establish a cell charged with preparing to transfer the management to the “SEAAL” company, in anticipation of the expiration of the terms of the management contract No. 3.

The document, which carried the reference No. 089 / ADE / DG / 2021, dated April 20, 2021, a copy of which is available to Echorouk, include 8 articles, the first stipulating that a cell will be established in charge of preparing for the transfer of management to the company “SEAAL” in anticipation to the deadlines for the management contract No. 3. The second article includes the human configuration of this cell.

The document bore the seals of 3 official bodies, the Algerian Water Authority, through the signature of its former director-general, Houcine Zair, and the National Office of Sanitation, by the signature of Acting Director-General, Razzak Abdelkader, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of “SEAAL” Karim Hasni.

The cell included Abdessalam Tammine, Director of Studies and Summaries in the Algerian Water Company, Nassima Chenine, an advisor to the General Director of the National Sanitation Office, Ilias Mihoubi, Secretary-General of SEAAL, Ezzeddine Takkouk, Director of Finance and Accounting at “SEAAL” Company, and Reda Boudab, director of exploitation and disinfection at SEAAL, Mohamed Himrane, director of the production at SEAAL, and Mohsen Gharib Diya, director of distribution at SEAAL.

Article 3 of the decision states that this cell is placed under the authority of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEAAL (Karim Hasni), who guarantees its chairmanship.

The fourth article of the decision explained the tasks of this cell, which will undertake the process of identifying counterparts (partners), preparing and following up the work of handing over and receiving tasks between managers and experts in the French company “SUEZ” on the one hand, and their local counterparts on the other hand, in addition to forming and maintaining stocks documentation related to the handover and receipt of assignments.

The cell will also, according to the same document, prepare a detailed situation for the company and the public water and sanitation service entrusted to it, along with proposing procedures and measures that can be adopted at any moment and at all levels to provide all conditions for the continuation of management and (governance) in SEAAL and the public service for water and sanitation in the provinces of Algeria and Tipaza, in anticipation to the expiry of the terms of the management and contract 3 for SEAAL.

Article 5 of the same decision states that the cell can resort to any person, organization, or external expertise when necessary to help it accomplish and perform its tasks.

The position of the cell’s secretariat is guaranteed by Rania Kassi, who is charged with a mission with the National Office for Disinfection, according to Article 6 of the decision, which headquarters is in the training center for the “SEAAL” company in the municipality of Kouba in Algiers, while the decision is effective on the date of its signature, i.e. on April 20, 2021.

The Minister of Water Resources, Moustafa Kamal Mihoubi, said in a press statement, Tuesday, that the statement by SEAAL about water distribution in Algiers, which was cancelled, was due to the failure to consult its shareholders, such as the Algerian Water and Sanitation Office, and asserted that the program that was laid down before Ramadan will continue to be active.