RIYADH, 19 August 2005 — Kingdom signed an agreement with a leading French water management company to evaluate a water distribution project in Jeddah.
Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Hussayen, minister of water and electricity and Jacques Bertrand, president of Safege Consulting Engineers, signed the agreement Wednesday night for the SR20 million project which will be completed in six months.
“The effort is part of the Kingdom’s plan to privatize its water and electricity sector,” Al-Hussayen told newsmen following the signing ceremony.
He said that a similar agreement was signed in May this year to evaluate the water project in Riyadh. According to the agreement, the company is expected to submit a detailed report on the production and distribution of drinking water, billing, sewage and identify other priorities in the water sector, the minister said.
A special committee headed by Loay Al-Mussallam, deputy minister for planning and development, has been set up by Al-Hussayen to supervise the evaluation of the projects in Riyadh and Jeddah and to explore ways and means for the privatization of water projects. The minister hopes to carry out a similar project in the Eastern Province.
Speaking to Arab News, Bertrand said his company was not new in the Kingdom, “It was the first company which detected ground water in the city of Riyadh in the early 60s,” he added.
Two years ago, he said, the company undertook a detailed study on institutions dealing with water in the Kingdom. “It took nearly seven months to study the water distribution system in Jeddah prior to the signing of the agreement.”
He said his company is one of the two leading water management companies in France which serves more than 100 million inhabitants throughout the globe. “We are happy to cooperate with the Kingdom in its efforts to effect improvements in the Kingdom’s water sector.”
The company assists its global customers in the water sector in diagnostics, audits, scheduling, feasibility and impact studies and training.
“One of the top priorities of the Kingdom is to give fresh potable water to its people. We are happy that we are able to join the Kingdom in its efforts and also feel confident that the French company will do a good job in this project,” Christian Bodin, economic and commercial counselor at the French Embassy said.
