After 21 hours of flight, 19 employees of POWERCHINA working at the Mellegue Dam project arrived on Nov 21 at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in the North African republic of Tunisia.

The Mellegue Dam project in Tunisia is being built by Sinohydro Bureau 15 Co, a subsidiary of POWERCHINA.

POWERCHINA employees at the Mellegue Dam project try out protective kit in Tunisia. [Photo/POWERCHINA]

The POWERCHINA project department arranged for special car transfers to provided comfortable and safe accommodation for the returning employees.

Since the outbreak of the global COVID-19 epidemic, Tunisia has successively introduced policies that prohibit entry of people from other countries and suspended flights.

In the past 10 months, due to the on-site Chinese management and personnel being unable to return to work at the project, there was a shortage of personnel.

To help Chinese employees return to Tunisia, the project department planned ahead and put together a thorough travel plan.

It prepared materials for visa processing in advance, maintaining connections with the Tunisian embassy in China, monitored flight information in real time and organized vaccinations for returning employees. In the face of severe outbreak situations, Sinohydro Bureau 15 Co has actively organized for employees to return to work on the basis of prevention and control of the epidemic. It observed these strict measures while promoting the resumption of work and production of overseas projects, which promotes POWERCHINA’s international image.

Passing through the mountains in El Kef province in northwestern Tunisia, the Mellegue Dam will be completed in 2022 and become one of the largest dams in the country.

The facility, with a total storage capacity of 190 million cubic meters of water, will protect the region from flood and meet the needs for irrigation and domestic use of water in the region.