WILMER JOEL
A $10.8 million grant agreement was reached between the US and RMI governments last Friday to fix Majuro’s sewage outfall system.
The US Department of Agriculture is the lead investor in partnership with the Asian Development Bank for this grant.
The US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Lance Posey told President David Kabua, Minister Jack Ading, and other officials present that the project will enhance and invest in the sewer outfall. For almost three decades, the sewage outfall metal pipe has been broken, causing wastewater to pollute the reef along the oceanside from the MWSC headquarters in Delap to Rairok and beyond. Algae blooms and reefs covered with brown algae have become the norm for these down current oceanside reefs.
Posey added that a high density polyethylene pipeline will be installed and anchored across the reef flat down the slope, 50 to 100 feet deep. A diffuser will be used to deposit wastewater away from the shore. “This project mitigates the risk of corrosion because the type of (material used) allows for pipe flexing,” he said.
President Kabua said that the sewage outfall situation has been a long-standing headache for the government. “We could see evidence of damage that is being done to the coral (and) to the fish,” he said. “Finally, the work of the outfall will be done this year (2024).”
Damian Capelle, general manager of the Majuro Water and Sewer Company, thanked all the collaborators for bringing the project to fruition.