JEDDAH, 2 November 2006 — The private sector has been handed control of the city’s water distribution centers in Al-Faisalia, Quwaiza, Al-Ruhali.
The new distribution center in Briman has been handed over to a new operator, Zaid Al-Hussain.
Mohammed Al-Baghdadi, general manager of the Water Department in the Makkah region, Abdul Rahman Al-Muhammadi, manager of the Jeddah Water Department and a representative from the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), yesterday handed the contractor the job in place of the current operating crew from SWCC.
Al-Muhammadi said that a five-year contract had been signed with the new contractor to operate and provide maintenance for the water distribution centers in Al-Faisalia, Quwaiza and Al-Ruhali. The contractors took over yesterday. Al-Faisalia has 106 filling stations, while Briman and Quwaiza have 40 each and Al-Ruhali 20.
A new electronic coupon system is currently operating at the distribution centers, Al-Muhammadi said. The new system is part of an effort to ensure the rapid supply of water and prevent its sale in the black market, he added.
Mamdouh Al-Shaabi, head of the technical team appointed by the SWCC to supervise the distribution centers, said the system would be linked with the control room as well as the entry and exit gates. “The new system will facilitate distribution of coupons for water tankers, help prevent forgery and put an end to the black market,” Al-Shaabi told Arab News.
The changes follow complaints from a large number of people seeking water at the centers during Ramadan and Eid. The pressure of so many people wanting water resulted in a situation in which the price of a tanker rose from the normal SR115 to more than SR600 on the black market.
“The data in the new system will include people’s names, ID numbers and home addresses,” Al-Shaabi explained. The data will help by indicating the districts in which the demand for water is increasing and also districts in which the shortage is severe.
Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen said that a final solution to Jeddah’s water problem would be possible only after the commissioning of the third desalination plant in Shuaiba.
He attributed the city’s water shortage to the growing population and the depletion of the Khalees and Wadi Fatima aquifers from 35,000 to 5,000 cubic meters as a result of a decrease in rainfall.
