A new EUR 200 million agreement concerning water treatment in Wallonia has been concluded by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Walloon Government and the region’s water management company SPGE (Société Publique de Gestion de l’Eau) to take forward a major investment programme that will equip Wallonia with modern and efficient water treatment and protection facilities and ensure compliance with the relevant EU directives.
At the opening ceremony for the Namur-Brumagne water treatment plant, a major facility included in the programme, EIB President Philippe Maystadt and SPGE’s representatives Jean-Luc Martin and Michel Cornelis signed the contracts for the first EUR 100 million instalment of the EUR 200 million approved by the EIB. These were supported by a comfort letter signed by the Economy Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt and Environment Minister Philippe Henry for the Walloon Government.
With this new commitment, the EIB has lent SPGE EUR 1 billion since 2004 to speed up these vital investments in Wallonia. The fact is that Belgium, and the Walloon Region in particular, were found to be severely lagging behind in the application of the water management measures set out in the EU directive on urban wastewater treatment – a situation that is now being rectified by the ambitious programme implemented by SPGE.
The results speak for themselves: the water treatment rate has now reached 78% in Wallonia. With the commissioning of the Namur-Brumagne plant, it will rise to 81% – another step forward in bringing Walloon towns and cities with more than 10 000 equivalent inhabitants into compliance with the directive. And the rate should go up to nearly 95% by the end of 2012.
This proactive approach to improving the quality of the environment and complying with EU requirements as quickly as possible, as well the achievements and the results obtained, were underlined by President Maystadt and EU Environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik, who took part in the ceremony.
Protecting the environment is one of the EIB’s top priorities, to which it devotes a major share of its lending: some EUR 102 billion over the past five years, including EUR 53 billion for managing the natural environment (water, air and waste) – EUR 14 billion in the water sector alone. In Belgium, the EIB has lent EUR 2.5 billion for improving wastewater collection and treatment in the Walloon, Flemish and Brussels-Capital Regions (mainly projects undertaken by SPGE, Aquafin and Hydrobru) and for upgrading the water supply, in partnership with SWDE (Société Wallonne des Eaux) and CILE (Compagnie Intercommunale Liégeoise des Eaux).
Source : © European Investment Bank 2011