The National Water Company (NWC), a Saudi joint stock company fully owned by the government (namely the Public Investment Fund), has set a date for companies to submit their proposals for the tender of the implementation of management, operation and maintenance of the water and wastewater sectors in the Kingdom, a senior official of Privatization Programs at the Ministry of Water and Electricity (MOWE) said at the one-day “Environment and Water Seminar” held at the British Consulate-General Saturday evening. Engineer Nasser Al-Aamry, senior manager of Privatization Programs at MOWE, said the winning bidders will have to oversee the development, management, operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems; managing and developing the services delivered to customers; revenue collection; training and the development of existing employees and the implementation of efficiency measures in the sector. Expected date of submission is by March this year, he added. A 17-member British trade mission - including representatives from water and environment companies - offered presentations and one-to-one meetings with an audience comprising of government officials, contractors and consultants as well as local water, wastewater and environment companies from both the public and private sectors. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Al-Aamry said the ultimate aim is to privatize the water sector gradually but fully. Around SR13 billion has been spent in Jeddah alone (and approximately SR5 billion in Riyadh) on developments in the water sector. An estimated SR34 billion is needed in the remaining cities. “Once we have a credit rating, there's no need for getting credit from elsewhere,” he pointd out, adding that each project will be individually finalized, with corresponding budget allocation. The first on the list for the development of water services are Makkah and Taif. The seminar focused on whether more desalination plants or increased efficiency at existing plants is the solution to water shortages. The presentations put emphasis on water reuse. “The reuse of water is an important source. We only use an average of 18 percent of used water in each city, apart from Taif. Only 12 percent is reused in Riyadh,” Al-Aamry noted. Renowned companies including Atkins, Exova and ETR-Unidata and BHR, many of which had already done projects in the Kingdom and the rest of the region, such as Exova's newly-established and fully equipped environmental lab in Al-Khobar and BHR's desalination plan in Jubail made their presentations. Atkins's representative Dr. Martin Currie said a team was also looking into Jeddah's Misk Lake situation. The British delegation will hold talks in Riyadh and Al-Khobar on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
