Consulting contract awarded to improve Bosnia-Herzegovina's water

Bosnia-Herzegovina's Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry have hired a consulting firm in order to make improvements to wastewater infrastructure. The ministry have awarded a 48-month contract to Louis Berger International. The consulting firm will help to develop water management programmes that will help to improve water quality throughout the country.

Louis Berger is an international company that provides support, development and engineering services for a range of clients within both the private and public sectors. The firm will work with the ministry in Bosnia-Herzegovina to provide supervision and tendering assistance for the implementation of a new water quality programme.

The €4 million (£3.2 million) sanitation and water works project will see the development of a new integrated management programme, which will deal with wastewater and sustainable water solutions. This project will help to bring the country's water infrastructure up to the standards outlined by the EU.

Daniel Serafimovski, regional manager of Louis Berger, said: "This 48-month project represents a challenge for the Western Balkans operations due to its geographical spread over 20 municipalities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly due to a problematic institutional framework. Nevertheless, we count on similar company experience and backstopping of projects in Kosovo, Macedonia and Romania and we trust to ensure a successful implementation."

Louis Berger will help the ministry to make more effective use of its financial resources, including loans from the European Investment Bank and the EU, along with other loans and grants that are available. These resources will see improvements made to the current infrastructure as well as help to improve the overall quality of the country's water supply. 

Wastewater treatment and collection services will also be improved under the programme with the municipalities that are within its scope. The new scheme will also see the provision of construction supervision, as well as offer support to implementation teams and project management teams, of which there are currently 20.