DAKAR, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Access to drinking water among Senegal's urban population has risen from 80 percent in 1996 to 98.5 percent in 2026, Abdoul Niang, director-general of the National Water Company of Senegal (SONES), has said.
He made the remarks on Thursday in Dakar, the capital, at the launch of celebrations marking SONES' 30th anniversary.
According to Niang, from 1996 to 2026, the number of centers covered under the delegated service perimeter increased from 48 to 68, while the population served rose from 6.3 million to 9.3 million.
Over the same period, he said, the number of subscribers grew from 241,000 to nearly 1 million, and annual drinking water production expanded from 99 million cubic meters to 299 million cubic meters.
Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, who also attended the event, urged SONES to continue to serve as an efficient instrument for implementing the country's national water policy, while stressing the need to balance the sector's financial sustainability with equitable access to drinking water. ■
