The Market Sewage Sludge Program (PSMBV) will take on a new dimension. The joint delegation of the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation visited the achievements of the PSMBV. The good results reinforced the members of the delegation to give their agreement in principle for the scaling up of this program. "We visited the achievements of the Program of Structuring the Sludge Market (PSMBV). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been able to obtain AFD's agreement in principle for a scaling up ", informs the Secretary General of the National Office of Sanitation of Senegal (ONAS), Mr. Ousmane Camara .
Senegal is thus entering a turning point in the valorization of the by-products of sanitation. It is in this way that the potentialities of this sub-sector will be enhanced. Private operators will be the architects of the modernization of the sectors likely to generate both income and to create jobs. "It is practically the private sector that is active in the valuation of by-products of sanitation. In the first phase, we have delegated 3 mud stations. The fourth station that has just been inaugurated will also be delegated to the private sector, "said the Secretary General of ONAS. But for Mr. Camara, there are criteria that these private actors must fulfill.
This new context requires the professionalization of these actors. In clear terms, it will be for them to give themselves the means to properly conduct the missions entrusted to them. "These are private people who will intervene throughout the value chain.
People must be able to formalize themselves. It is necessary that the actors can give themselves the necessary means to accomplish the missions. We must not remain in a dynamic of punctual operations, "advises Ousmane Camara. Making sanitation a market sector requires a new approach, experts say. The valuation of by-products is accompanied by the acquisition of advanced technologies. The second version of the Omni Processor will be installed in Dakar in 2018, if all goes as planned. The first version of the Omni Processor produces both drinking water, fertilizer, ash, and energy from sludge.
ONAS has already taken the lead. He conducted studies that gave a clear idea of the state of sanitation in several cities in Senegal. "I would like to celebrate the pilot phase. We expected strong decisions for this scaling up, for which, we are already doing the situation at the national level, "says Mr. Ousmane Camara before adding:" we have finished doing monographic studies in 30 cities in Senegal to make the inventory of autonomous sanitation. If we have the agreement in principle to scale, this can only reinforce us in this dynamic. "