South Africa: Joburg Water Scoops National Award

“Joburg Water has been recognised for its work in conserving water, winning an award from the national Department of Water Affairs and Forestry for water conservation and water demand management in the domestic sector.

According to the city’s official website, this is not the only recognition it has received.

Earlier this year, Joburg Water won an award from the Water Institute of Southern Africa for its Olifantsvlei Treatment Works, which was recognised as the best managed large facility in the country”.

Read more: Rudo Mungoshi, Bua News / allAfrica.com, 01 Jul 2008

Bai-Mass Taal the first Executive Secretary of AMCOW

“The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) Executive Committee (ExCOM), meeting in extraordinary session, has appointed Mr. Bai-Mass Taal as the first Executive Secretary on 10 May 2008 after conducting interviews of six candidates short-listed from a field of over thirty applicants by its Technical Advisory Committee (AMCOWTAC). Bai-Mass Taal served as a Cabinet Minister in The Gambia, first as Secretary of State for Fisheries, Natural Resources and the Environment in 2004-2005 and later as Secretary of State for Fisheries and Water Resources from 2005 to 2006″.

[...]

Bai-Mass Taal should assume duty in July 2008 and will be based at the AMCOW Secretariat in Abuja.

Source: The Point, 01 Jul 2008

John Snow: Pioneering cholera scientist celebrated

Anaesthetist John Snow, who died 150 years ago aged 45, showed that cholera was transmitted in water, not air.

After mapping the pattern of cholera deaths in London, he identified a water pump in Soho as the source of the epidemic and took direct action to disable it.

The tribute, jointly organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the charity WaterAid, took place on 17 June 2008 at the John Snow pub in Soho where the pump once stood where a special RSC Chemical Landmark blue plaque was unveiled. The plaques mark locations at which remarkable scientific achievements have been undertaken.

Mr Johnson was joined by TV news anchorman Jon Snow and others bearing the same surname for the event. Glasses of clean, uncontaminated water were served to all the guests in honour of the man whose foresight saved millions of lives.

Sources: Press Association, 15 Jun 2008 ; WaterAid, 17 Jun 2008

Gilles Forget, Regional Director of IDRC’s West and Central Africa Office Retires

Gilles Forget

Gilles Forget, Regional director of the International Development Research Centre’s (IDRC) West and Central Africa office in Dakar, Senegal, is retiring after 25 years with the Canadian institute. Forget’s career at IDRC was largely spent working in health, science, and the environment. In 1997, Forget became team leader for the newly established Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health programme. In April 2008, the Government of Senegal bestowed on him the title of Officer of the National Order of Merit of Senegal.

One of the achievements he is particularly proud of is the Aquatox project which he started with his colleague Andrés Sanchez. The project “put into the hands of people, even those with little or no education, very simple tests that allow them to determine if water is contaminated by pesticides, chemicals, and so on. By training kids in primary schools in 26 countries, including Canada, to use small testing kits, we showed that anyone can do this.”

Source: IDRC, July 2008

Somalia: four employees of Italian water NGO kidnapped

Somali gunmen have kidnapped five local aid workers, four of whom, including team leader Fadumo Hajiyow, work for the Italian NGO Water For Life (WFL) on 30 June 2008. The fifth victim was identified as an agronomist with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

WFL founder, Elio Sommavilla, said two of the kidnapped Somalis had been due to fly to Italy to receive an award. WFL team leader Fadumo Hajiyow was among those ,WFL trains Somali geologists.

Sources: Reuters, 1 Jul 2008 ; IRIN, 2 Jul 2008

WWC Programme Director Joins the World Bank

Paul van Hofwegen, who for the past 5 years was a Programme Director at the World Water Council (WC), is joining the World Bank in Jakarta, Indonesia. He will be working on development and implementation of water programmes that involve different Ministries, Local Authorities and beneficiary groups in Indonesia.

Read more: WWC, 23 Jun 2008

NIRAS breakthrough with Sri Lanka water project

NIRAS, one of Denmark’s largest firms of consulting engineers and planners, has won a capacity building consultancy contract in the water sector in Sri Lanka, financed by Danida. NIRAS won the contract, worth DKK 7.3 million, against three Danish competitors – COWI, Grontmij-Carl Bro and Rambøll.

The consultancy is linked to the Danish mixed credits portfolio in Sri Lanka, which includes the Colombo Sewage Rehabilitation project and four other water supply and sanitation projects. It will involve assisting Sri Lankan authorities with managing information systems, reporting and tariff structures.

The Sri Lankan water authority has been decentralised and the regional centres need to be upgraded. The Sri Lankan government identified the need for capacity building, and the project was approved in principle in Copenhagen in 2006. The tender process is about to be finished.

Source: Development Today (subscription site), 29 June 2008

Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group elects new directors

Three new Directors were elected to the Board of the Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) at the Annual General Meeting, held on 15 June 2008.

They are:

Edward Kairu of the Rotary Club of Nairobi, Kenya
Prof. Edward Kairu is the Executive Director of Maji na Ufanisi (Water and Development), and is the Chair of ANEW – African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation. He is also adviser of the Freshwater Action Network (FAN), RiPPLE – Research inspired Policy and Practice Learning – DfID (Ethiopia and Nile regions) and a member of the Africa Working Group of the European Union Water Initiative (EUWI).

Arvind Phukan of the Rotary Club of Tacoma, USA
Until moving to the Continental U.S. in 2005, Dr. Phukan was president and CEO of Phukan Inc., Anchorage, AK. Between 1976 and 2005, Dr. Phukan was also a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage/Fairbanks, Alaska.

Billy Settles of the Rotary Club of Victoria Northside, USA
Billy Settles is currently the managing partner of Associated Engineers & Surveyors (AES) and is a Registered Professional Engineer and Registered Professional Land Surveyor.

Source: WASRAG, 26 Jun 2008