In Laos, have a tap in his house is a luxury

Vientiane Special Envoy - In front of the Museum of the security of the people in Vientiane at the time of leaving school, mopeds carrying up to four children in addition to the driver weave between cars, bikes and scooters. Laos is like the streets of his capital with its 7 million inhabitants, it is the poorest country in Southeast Asia, but growing in fast motion, like its neighbors. Cities grow too fast and infrastructure do not follow.

Whole districts of Vientiane (750,000 inhabitants) are not served by drinking water. The Lao People's Democratic Republic has set a goal of supplying drinking water to 80% of the population by 2020. And opted for a ****tail that mixes a dose of private investment supported by international aid. "The precariousness of the country forced him to accept everything that comes along, all that donors agree to fund particular, analysis Cavard Jacques , Chief of Technical Services Union waters of Ile-de-France (Sedif), came to visit an expert. So Laotians have all sorts of equipment, impossible to connect sometimes ... "In Vientiane, Sedif the supports in the management and co-finances infrastructure projects with the French Development Agency (AFD).

We find the same support plus a few others, Thabok, 4500 inhabitants, 90 kilometers away. This is the opening day of mini drinking water system that feeds about 860 families. The ceremony combines the one-party rituals, shamanic practices and picnic. Thabok is the heart of a growing district. This is the equipping of a potable water system, not a single well. The plant is modest: two wells, a water tower 50 meters high, the ground where a tank is added chlorine. This treatment is sufficient because the water has proven good quality in this region.

The majority of people continue to get by between buying at high prices for 200 liter drums, and laundry in the river's water supply wells and rain. Kunkan among the first subscribers mini network. Wife of military, she has four months to two taps: one before the house, another in the toilets at the rear. That's two more than the usual standards of Thabok. A luxury. Kunkan is fond of. As we are astonished at the size of its consumption, she retorted with a laugh she washes four times a day. His few chickens and ducks enjoy the water too. His family of four pays about 45,000 kip per month (about 4 euros).

Expertise and training

On the other side of the river, the discreet ^Mrs. Voy expressed satisfaction. His three-person household did not have to pay the $ 50 connection funded by government but pays a monthly bill of less than 80 cents per month. Before, he had to go look at the community well water, two buckets on a pole on his shoulder, then to boil . Now she can devote more time to work in rice fields.

The Group Research and Technological Exchange (GRET) is the linchpin of the improved comfort of life for residents. The association has seven other mini networks to its credit in Laos, or 26,000 people served. "We have given a lot in rural development, we leave it to others now, says Martine Lemenager , engineer PERG. The world is changing , and no one handles these "gray areas" that are more villages and towns not yet. "Once found private funding for structural, GRET brings its expertise to establish contracts and solid form of technicians. A Thabok, the lead investor is an entrepreneur, Xaykham Phongsavat : "With drinking water, the profit is meager, he testifies. Return on investment is very long. I do it for this village, I was born. "

A Hin Heup , in a more mountainous district, Arnaud Vomtobel , another engineer GRET, visits a young couple of employees trained in the care of the association, in their great and unique room, housing the headquarters of mini-network . He is a former driver. Nephew of the local investor, he is responsible for monitoring the installation, while his wife is fencing on his computer, on which she would like to print charges.

GRET and its funders feed for this district, whose landscapes would attract tourists, the ambition to develop a sanitation system. A small treatment plant was dug below the village. Despite the billboard ban, the market people throw their old plastic bags over the fence. Even in Vientiane, the sewers are open.