JEDDAH: The National Water Company (NWC) will assume responsibility for water supplies and sewage services in Jeddah starting early September as part of ongoing efforts to privatize the key utility sector.
Loay bin Ahmed Al-Musallam, CEO of the NWC, said the new company would take over desalination plants from the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC).
Work is currently under way to construct six new water desalination plants in various parts of the Kingdom at a cost of SR811 million. The new plants, located in Al-Wajh, Rabigh, Al-Laith, Qunfuda, the Farasan Islands and Umluj, will have a combined daily output of 63,000 cubic meters of water, SWCC said in its annual report for 2007 released this week.
The SWCC currently has 30 water desalination plants across the Kingdom — 24 are located on the Red Sea coast and six on the Gulf coast. According to the report, the 30 plants produced 1,066 million cubic meters of desalinated water last year, a 3.3 percent increase over the previous year.
The report said that a number of new projects would be executed in partnership with the private sector, including the third phase of the Jeddah project, the third phase of the Haql project, the fourth phase of the Dhiba project and the fourth phase of Al-Wajh project.
Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the SWCC, expressed the keenness of the government to raise the organization’s capability.
