Oman's Beah to begin implementing waste management services at PDO concession areas

Muscat: Oman Environmental Services Holding Company S.A.O.C (be'ah)has laid the groundwork for its waste management contract with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and is ready to implement its scope.

The 17 million Omani Riyal contract signed in September 2019 covers all aspects of closing downtraditional landfills in PDO's concession areas and taking over of non-hazardous wastemanagement and operations.

be’ah will install dedicated collection bins of various capacities to segregate organic, plastic, paper and other waste at source. This waste will be collected by the be’ah fleet to be transported directly to transfer stations and engineered landfills. The waste containers will be regularly cleaned to maintain hygiene.

One of the core strategic objectives of be’ah is to decommission all traditional dumping sites across Oman as these pose a great risk to environmental and human health. The company will carry out this duty in the concession areas as well, which currently has seven traditional dumpsites. These will be gradually decommissioned and rehabilitated.

Organic waste collected from PDO sites will be converted into biofertilizer for agriculture, putting into practice be’ah’s push towards sustainable practices and a circular economy. Several local companies will be involved in these operations, thus generating In-Country Value (ICV), boosting local economy and enabling wider range of services at PDO areas.

Commenting on the service contract, Hilal Khalfan AlNoumani, Executive Vice President of Municipal Solid Waste at be’ah said:“We are happy to have completed all procedures and are ready to startthe actual implementation of the contract with PDO. By the end of August 2021 this year, be’ah will clean and decommission seven traditional landfill sites in PDO’s concession areas. The second phase of the project will commence in early 2022 to take over the collection and transportationof municipal waste in addition to managing and maintaining seven waste collection sites in the concession areas.”

This contract is inline with be’ah’s mandate under the Royal Decree No. 46/2009, which stipulates that the companyshalltake over all operations of the waste management sector from other parties.