National Water invites bids for water project in Madinah, Tabuk

Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company (NWC) has invited nine qualified foreign consortiums to submit their bids for the management, operation and maintenance of the northwestern water sector that covers Madinah and Tabuk regions.

The winner would run the sector over the next seven years to develop and enhance its performance and reduce operational costs, the state-owned company said in a statement.

The pre-qualification of consortiums took into account their financial solvency, technical and operational experience, in addition to the necessary approvals of the supervisory commission on privatizing the environment, water and agriculture sector, NWC’s chief executive Mohammed Al-Mowkley, said.

“The implementation of management contracts will fully start in the two regions by the coming of 2020. The company would also be executing and implementing similar contracts gradually throughout the rest of the Kingdom regions, expected to complete by the first quarter of 2021,” he added.

Management contracts pave the way for enabling private sector participation in the water distribution sector, so as to enhance operating efficiency, service development, and cut operational, administrative and indirect capital costs.

They will also help determine the technical status of the sector assets and reinforce the ratio of continuous water supply, Al-Mowkley concluded.