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GAMA gives instructions for purchase of 30,000 tonnes of pipeline

AMMAN - GAMA, the company implementing the multimillion dollar Disi Water Conveyance Project, has given instructions for the purchase of 30,000 tonnes of pipeline at a cost of $32 million in preparation for the execution of the megaventure, a government official said on Monday.

Disi Project Director Othman Kurdi said the government has transferred the first $50 million of its $400 million contribution to the Disi project into an escrow account, where the European Investment Bank ( EIB ) and the French Development Agency (AFD) have transferred another $50 million each.

He made the remarks during a workshop on the Disi Water Conveyance Project, organised by the Centre for Water and Environmental Research and Studies at the University of Jordan , in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation .

Briefing the participants on recent developments in the Disi project, Kurdi noted that its administration and supervision offices in Qastal, south of the capital, are now completed and will be operational by the beginning of December.

He added that more than 70 per cent of construction work on the project's main offices in Mudawara, built over a 5,000-cubic-metre area, is now finished, while 95 per cent of the pipelines warehouse is complete.

The project director, however, did not specify when the process of digging water wells would commence.

The project went into effect as of June 30 after the financial closure was signed. The government's equity in the project totals $400 million, $100 million of which is allocated as "standby" funding to be used if international prices of construction materials, including steel, increase. The EIB and the AFD extended two $100 million soft loans to the government.

To be carried out on a build-operate-transfer basis, the project entails constructing a 325-kilometre pipeline that will convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in the south of Jordan to Amman.

The price of one cubic metre of water generated from the Disi project went down from JD0.87 to JD0.74 after the government raised its stake in the project and steel prices fell on international markets.

Projected to supply the capital with 100 million cubic metres of water annually, the Disi project will be one of the Kingdom's main water generators.

"The Disi project is Jordan's first step into achieving water security, which cannot be totally realised unless our project to desalinate Red Sea water is implemented..." Kurdi underscored, referring to the Jordan National Red Sea Water Development Project (JRSP).

The JRSP was announced at the conclusion of the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea in May, with the government expecting construction on the $10 billion project to start late next year.

The JRSP is projected to provide 120 million cubic metres (mcm) of water annually by the year 2014 in its first phase, expanding to 700 mcm annually in later phases.

The Kingdom has faced increasing demand for fresh water as a result of demographic shifts and a growing population, while local experts believe climate change has caused a 30 per cent reduction in the country's surface water.

According to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation , the per capita water share in Jordan is estimated at 145 cubic metres annually, while the international water poverty line is 1,000 cubic metres per capita annually.

By Hana Namrouqa

© Jordan Times 2009