Honduran national water authority Sanaa may reject the EU’s donation of a wastewater treatment plant for capital Tegucigalpa due to faults in its design and construction, Sanaa director Jack Arévalo told BNamericas.
“The plant does not fulfill the expectations specified in the contract,” Arévalo said.
“It has several flaws, mainly in its design,” Arévalo added.
The wastewater treatment plant was designed by an Italian firm and built by an Italian-Honduran consortium, and was financed by a 26.7mn-euro (US$38.9mn) donation from the EU, according to Arévalo.
The plant has still not been officially received by Honduran authorities, as the project, which began in 2007, is still not complete. Sanaa expects the plant is to be finished by mid-2010.
An inspection carried out recently revealed that the plant is currently working at 35% of its total capacity. Although not complete, the plant should be capable of working at 100% capacity, Arévalo said.
Located in the San José de la Vega district, the plant is expected to treat 20% of Tegucigalpa’s wastewater, and serve some 200,000 inhabitants.
Source: Indiana Corrales, BNamericas.com [subscription site], 16 Dec 2009
Sanitation Updates 
None of the problems could possibly be shoddy construction methods and massive corner cutting so “Saved” money could go into the pocket of officials……..