Incatema Consulting & Engineering develops a social and environmental management plan for the CAMBÉRÈNE Waste Water Treatment Plant in Senegal

19 November, 2019

Incatema Consulting & Engineering has initiated implementation of the Social and Environmental Management Plan designed for construction of the Cambérène Waste Water Treatment Plant in Senegal, with the foremost objective of ensuring fulfilment of current environmental policies and clauses. The plan also seeks to guarantee waste elimination in authorised tips and to ensure that environmental management and control is understood, accepted, and established to guarantee continual improvement and execution of an activity that is increasingly integrated in the environment, pursuant to the United Nation’s call to consider the importance of access to sanitation.

To this effect, the company executes this plan, defending and evaluating several measures for improving and mitigating potential social and environmental impacts generated during the construction phase of the Cambérène Waste Water Treatment Plant, which has just begun. It also proposes other institutional measures for environmental safety and supervision, including:

• Reducing tree felling to a minimum and compensating for loss of vegetation by planting young trees native to the region to encourage acclimatisation.

• Proceeding with ground excavations in stages.

• Rehabilitating disturbed areas as the work advances.

• Limiting the formation of damp depressions and providing an adequate drainage system during construction.

“Incatema Consulting & Engineering is committed to adopting adequate measures that allow the construction works to be supervised in the form of a safety policy, product of the company’s commitment in terms of continuous improvement and safety practices, aimed at minimising the negative impacts on the environment and personnel involved”, declared the company’s director of infrastructures, Fernando Díaz.

With a budget of 32 million euros, the new Waste Water Treatment Plant has an average treatment capacity of 92,000 m3/day, and a peak capacity of 101,000 m3/day.

Commitment to worker health and wellbeing

As part of lncatema Consulting & Engineering’s commitment to people’s health and safety, the Social and Environmental Management Plan contemplates further establishing use of adequate means for permanently guaranteeing the health and safety of personnel and promoting hygiene at work, by providing appropriate facilities and practices. To fulfil this objective, the plan contemplates carrying out awareness and training sessions in safe work practices, and regularly certifying that such training is in line with production quality requirements.

“Incatema Consulting & Engineering enhances the value of environmental protection as a driver for excellence. To do this, all personnel need to be aware that respect for the environment must be a concern at all times”, adds Diaz, who highlights the relevance of a “good waste management system and adequate handling of natural resources to avoid waste”, as part of the company’s commitment towards the environment and resolute support for sustainable evolution in client satisfaction, granting importance to the wellbeing, health, and safety of personnel.

Access to sanitation is a necessary element for ensuring environmental sustainability and a key human right for health, nutrition and human development. The 2030 Agenda recently approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations contains the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, among which objective 6 proposes achieving equal access to sanitation by 2030. Poor hygiene practices still in effect by more than one billion people, translate into high rates of environmental contamination in many regions of the planet.

As a human right, access to sanitation must be assessed according to factors such as availability, sustainability, beneficiary participation, and also quality of access and service, all of which should be taken into account when prioritising specific actions such as the construction of infrastructures or provision of services.