Suriname targeting US$280M for optimal water supply

PARAMARIBO – “Water is the gold of the future, not gold,” says Natural Resources (NH) Minister Jim Hok. Yesterday, he was presented with a copy of the Master Plan for improvement of the water supply in the coming fifteen years. “For the first time, there has been a serious study of water supplies in Suriname. The blueprint is here to finish the house,” the Minister says. The plan will cost US$ 250 million for the total coastal area and US$ 31 million for the hinterland. “This comes down to US$ 560 per inhabitant,” Ravi Patadin, one of the consultants who worked on the plan, tells DWT. The study cost US$ 490,000 and was financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and carried out by Canadian company Genivar in collaboration with Ilaco Suriname. The Suriname Water Company (SWM) was in charge of the day-to-day coordination.