French water and waste giant Veolia is to seek World Bank arbitration in a bitter dispute after Gabon cancelled its contract, the group said Friday, as Libreville has accused the firm of polluting the country.

The decision to seek international mediation was taken by Veolia's Gabon-based SEEG unit, which has provided water and electricity distribution services in this small central African country since 1997 but lost its contract in February with the government seizing control of its facilities.

The expropriation was denounced by Veolia as a "very serious, illegal act of expropriation", sparking a bitter war of words between the two sides.

"This request was made following the expropriation of its assets and personnel, after the sudden cancellation of the public service concession for the production, transportation and distribution of drinking water and electricity by the Republic of Gabon on February 16," a Veolia statement said.

Gabon said initially it was cancelling Veolia's contract because of a "deterioration of the quality of the service provided to users".

Libreville later accused the firm of causing "considerable environmental damage" through oil and fuel spillage at the sites where it operates, raising concerns about its effect on water quality.

But a company spokesman said at the time that SEEG had been audited more than 10 times by the Gabonese authorities over the past decade who had never raised any issues about environmental damage.

And he insisted its water supplies were drinkable and met World Health Organization standards.

SEEG, the Water and Energy Company of Gabon, is 51 percent owned by Veolia and provides drinking water and electricity throughout this former French colony of 1.8 million people, most of whom live in Libreville or in Port-Gentil, the economic capital.

The company has also been at odds with Libreville over whether the government has met its commitment to invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) into SEEG, with the two sides in dispute over responsibility for power cuts and electricity fees.

ah-ys/ser/rl

VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Tillerson heads to Africa, with China in his sights
Washington (AFP) March 6, 2018
Washington's top diplomat set off for Africa on Tuesday to tour countries that form a new theater for competition with America's ambitious great power rival China. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's trip to Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Chad and Nigeria will take him to new battlefields in the United States' long war against Islamist extremism. But looming over the journey will be a different and arguably more important long-term challenge - the rise of China as an economic and diplomatic power to ... read more