The Acting Minister of Lands and Naturals Ressources the Honourable Jotham NAPAT and UNELCO Engie signed the takeover of the Teouma Valley Potable Water Concession on Thursday 29 June 2023.

This follows the agreement reached by the Government of Vanuatu and UNELCO on 20 July 2023 to extend access to clean, reliable and affordable water to several heavily populated areas around Port Vila.

The second area to be added to the UNELCO concession is Teouma Valley.

UNELCO's work to supply water to Teouma Valley from Teoumaville is divided into two distinct areas : one already within the Concession Area and another part outside the Concession Area where residents are supplied with water by R.E.S.T Development's borehole and water distribution networks.

The first phase of the UNELCO ENGIE project involved laying 1 km of 110 mm HDPE pipe to carry water from Teoumaville to the entrance to the Teouma Valley subdivision.

Next, 3.7 km of HDPE 90 and 63 pipes were laid in the subdivisions to enable water to be distributed in the Concession Area and to take over the existing networks in the area outside the Concession Area.

The project will be completed on Wednesday 05 July 2023 when the Government takes over the R.E.S.T Development networks, the area enters the Concession Area, the R.E.S.T Development drilling is stopped and customers in the area are supplied with Teoumaville water.

Very soon, the population of Teouma Valley will benefit from the same affordable water rates as other Port Vila customers, and water quality and service levels will be gradually improved to reach the levels enjoyed by Port Vila customers.

Teouma Valley residents can, however, make their subscriptions through UNELCO.