Winning bidder for Disi project to be announced in March
Jordan Times
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN — The government will announce the winning bidder to implement the $600
million Disi Water Conveyance Project early March, an official at the Ministry
of Water and Irrigation said on Wednesday.
A committee at the ministry is currently studying financial and technical offers
submitted by six international companies.
Adnan Zu’bi, the ministry’s spokesperson and assistant secretary general, said
the project, to be carried out on a build, operate and transfer basis, is
expected to be completed four years after construction work begins.
Zu’bi added that a technical Jordanian-Saudi committee was formed recently to
exchange expertise on sustaining the Disi basin on both sides.
A key solution for the country’s water shortage, the project has faced several
obstacles since 2001 when the government floated a tender for its
implementation.
It did not refer the tender to an international bidder, citing the high-end cost
per cubic metre to customers.
The scheme was later assigned to the Jordan Armed Forces’ Investment Projects
Fund, which failed to meet a deadline to submit technical and feasibility
studies.
When implemented, the conveyance project will supply Amman and the southern
governorates with some 100 million cubic metres of water per year from the
southern Disi aquifer, for the next 100 years.
As part of the plan, a main pumping station, three storage wells and a
320-kilometre conveyance line will be built on the project site.
The Disi project is one of six strategic plans initiated by the ministry to
address the country’s water deficit.
These include the Lajoun project, which will provide 20mcm of freshwater per
year to the capital and Karak Governorate upon completion, the Zara Maeen
project for the treatment and desalination of 40mcm of water per year, and the
Khirbet Al Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Friday-Saturday, January 19-20, 2007