JEDDAH, 13 November 2005 — The role of private sector in boosting water and power resources across Saudi Arabia came in for specific mention at the 2005 Jeddah Water and Power Forum that opened at the Jeddah Hilton last night.
Water and electricity need to be provided to every nook and corner of the country. “The time has come when the private sector should join hands with the public sector, or even take the lead in providing investment and technology in this vital sector,” Prince Abdullah ibn Fahd, deputy governor of Makkah for security affairs, said while opening the three-day forum.
Prince Abdullah, who read the speech of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, said what was more important was the optimal utilization of water and preventing and protecting it from pollution. “This is the joint responsibility of all those involved in producing, distributing and consuming precious water,” he said.
Emphasizing the need for recycling sewage water, the prince said that international companies would have an open field here to work on this. “The Jeddah Municipality is working on a plan to create a green belt around the city by utilizing recycled sewage water,” he said.
Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen reviewed the work in progress in the two sectors. “No effort is being spared to see that the remotest corner of the Kingdom’s desert areas get the benefit of water and power,” he said.
Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry Chairman Ghassan Al-Sulaiman said the process of opening up of the water and power sectors afforded a great opportunity for international companies to team up with their local counterparts in introducing new technologies to develop the two important sectors. “With investment and partnerships, the development of water and power should grow by leaps and bounds,” he said, adding that he was confident that the private sector would deliver.
He stressed on the need for the rationalization of distribution and consumption of water and power and making them cheaper.
Adil Bushnak, president of the forum, member of the JCCI and head of the Bushank Group, said the participation of international experts and leading Saudi businessmen was an indication of the importance given to water and electricity.
Earlier, the Riyadh-based Haif Company and the UK-based Chase Environmental Services Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding signaling a commitment to the development of new and advanced water and environmental standards in the Kingdom. The signatories, Abdullah M. Al-Shamsan, general manager of Haif Company, and Alexander R. Melbourne, international director of the Chase Environmental Group, said their move reflected the importance of water issues to the future of the Kingdom.
In attendance were British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles and Consul General Carma Elliot, and Omar Saeed, Trade Consular officer responsible for the Saudi environmental and water industry program across the Kingdom.
“With the MOU, we’re hopeful of initiating joint projects initially in Jeddah in 2006,” Melbourne told Arab News. “This will be an ongoing contract and we hope to work subsequently on projects in other parts of the world.”
Chase is the primary British licensee for a group of leading edge technologies across the environmental sector, which will make major changes in the way waste and resources are managed in the Kingdom. Their main focus is on water treatment and sustainable waste management.
To bring about the new joint venture, the Haif Company founded a Water Services Division which aims to conserve water, preserve the environment and protect the ecosystem in line with current thinking on sustainable development.
Haif Company has considerable industrial and logistical resources available and employs around 5,000 people. “The company is well equipped to undertake all sizes of projects in the fields within our field of activity,” said Melbourne. “However, the company is well prepared to mobilize and deploy additional resources, if the need arises, to cater to any type or size of projects within our specialty.”
