MUSCAT -- Iran-based conglomerate Sunir has kicked off construction work on a major water scheme in Jabal al Akhdar, marking its maiden foray into Oman's lucrative construction and contracting sector. The $74.6 million project is the latest addition to the mountain region's expanding infrastructure that will underpin its planned development into a tourism hotspot.
When completed in 2012, the water scheme will not only ensure an uninterrupted supply of potable water for the jabal's many mountain hamlets, but crucially, it will also catalyse investment in tourism-related projects, including an upscale resort planned by the state-owned Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran). Besides helping conserve its groundwater, wastewater generated by the project will be suitably treated for farming and landscaping, thus enhancing the jabal's verdant ambience.
"This project not only has important significant socio-economic ramifications for the mountain villages, but it will also go a long way in realising the government's tourism-related aspirations for Jabal al Akhdar," said Peyman Mokhtarzadeh (pictured), Branch Manager, Sunir Oman.
Sunir led a field of six local and international firms that bid for the contract. The bidding line-up included Hyundai Engineering, Sinohydro Corporation, Gammon International and OHI, Gulf Petrochemical Services and Aydiner Construction.
Parsons International are consultants for the project. The Jabal al Akhdar water supply project is one of the largest in a series of water schemes currently under implementation by the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) in various parts of the Sultanate. It is also one of the most complex, given the challenges of channelling water to the lofty summits of the Green Mountain, around 3,000 metres above sea level.
The water scheme will be linked to an existing transmission line that runs from Muscat Governorate all the way to the Dakhiliya region, via Bid Bid, Samayil, Birkat al Mouz and Nizwa. A secondary transmission line will tap into the main line at Birkat al Mouz, at the foothills of Jabal al Akhdar, and will run along the carriageway leading to the summit of the mountain. A series of ground reservoirs will be built at key intervals along the length of the secondary transmission line.
Pumping stations built alongside the reservoirs will take the water from the base of the mountain to villages on and around the summit. In all, six reservoirs of different capacities will be built along with five pumping stations along the route of the secondary transmission line, said Mokhtarzadeh. Underlining the scale of the project, around 36 kilometres of ductile iron pipes will be laid as part of the secondary line, in addition to 160 kilometres of polyethylene pipes that will make up the distribution and supply networks.
Sunir is mobilising an army of nearly 500 workers to execute the project, which at the peak of construction is expected to double in size, said Mokhtarzadeh. Heavy duty trenchers and excavation equipment are also being deployed to tackle the hard rock strata of the mountain, he said. The water scheme is due to be commissioned by end-2012 at the end of a two-and-a-half-year construction time frame. Sunir will also operate and manage the network for an initial period of 12 months after it comes on stream.
Significantly, Sunir marks its debut in the Sultanate with the award of the Jabal al Akhdar water scheme. The contract also represents the multinational's first major project in the GCC. A private joint stock company, Sunir was established in 1994 by a grouping of 23 firms with interests ranging from consultancy services, engineering and construction to oil and gas, power and water, industry and trading.
The group has executed contracts of a total value in excess of $1.6 billion in countries as far afield as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Senegal, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Georgia and Turkmenistan. Sunir also has ambitious plans for growth in the Sultanate, says Mokhtarzadeh.
"With the diverse expertise of the different companies that make up the Sunir Group, we believe we can make a robust contribution to Oman's continued infrastructure development and modernisation. We are ready to bid for major projects, such as roads, ports and airports, as well as energy and renewables", he added.
By Conrad Prabhu
© Oman Daily Observer 2010
