Iraq has decided to end a contract with Germany's PWT Company [PWT Wasser-und Abwassertechnik] for the construction of a water supply network in its Southern Al-Muthanna Governorate at a cost of 167 billion Iraqi dinars ($140 million) due to a long delay in project execution; an Iraqi official was reported on Monday as saying.

PWT is fully owned by Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company.

The OPEC member awarded the project to the German firm in 2012 and it was scheduled to be completed in 2015, Al-Muthanna Water Department's Director Mohammed Talib said, quoted by Shafaq News and other Iraqi publications.

He said work on the project, with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres per hour, stopped in early 2015 due to internal hostilities and cash shortages but the contractor resumed work in 2020 before it was forced by Coronavirus to suspended it again.

"The company failed to take any measures to resume work after it executed nearly 63 percent of the project...so we have decided to withdraw the project from PWT and hand it over to a government company to finish it," Talib said.

Iraq officials said after awarding the project, intended to tackle a persistent water supply problem, that it comprises large reservoirs, drainage and sedimentation basins, pipelines and other facilities and that it would be funded by Germany.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.

© ZAWYA 2021