Publication Date
:
11/29/2021 2:00 PM
Last Modification Date
:
3/21/2023 3:21 PM
In the evening of Monday November 29, 2021, Engineer Abdulrahman Abdulmohsin Al-Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture “MEWA", Board Chairperson of National Water Company “NWC" patronized the completion ceremony of water distribution sector's restructuring and integration. Assistant Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, deputy ministers of the Ministry, and a number of leaders of the water sector attended the ceremony.
The ceremony followed the success of NWC in completing the integration of 13 general directorates of water supply services in the Kingdom into six regional clusters (sectors), in order to achieve the objectives of the National Water Strategy and the Saudi Arabian Vision 2030, including the restructuring of the water distribution sector, and engagement of the private sector.
"Achieving the objectives of Program 9 will enable the Kingdom to attract and localize modern technologies, transfer knowledge to national cadres, and create jobs," said Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Mowkely, NWC, CEO. He pointed out that the company began its journey by integrating the regions of Madinah and Tabuk under the name of the Northwest Cluster as a first stage. This is followed by the integration of the governorates of Riyadh Region under the name of the Central Cluster, and the Eastern Region under the name of Eastern Cluster on March 1 as a second stage. The third stage of the sectors integration program came with the integration of the governorates and centers of the Makkah Region to the Western Cluster, and the integration of the regions of Assir, Jazan, Najran and Al-Baha in the name of the Southern Cluster, in early July. On November 1, 2021, the schedule was completed with the integration of four regions: Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf and the Northern border in the name of Northern Cluster.
In his speech, Al-Mowkely showed that the sector integration project is the first step necessary to engage the private sector in order to increase the efficiency of operational processes, fill technical gaps; localize technology, and technical expertise. This will be done through operation and maintenance management contracts with local and international alliances, in anticipation of concluding concession agreements under the objectives of the National Water Company (NWC) Strategy and Saudi Arabian Vision 2030.
"In NWC, we completed standardized digital structure to upgrade the services provided to our customers and partners in various Saudi regions. Over the past four years, we have implemented more than 1,090 projects, costing more than SAR 35.8 billion, benefiting more than 7,700,000 new beneficiaries, contributing to increased coverage of water and sanitation systems" Al-Mowkely added. He indicated that in recent years, the company has been able to increase the amount of water distributed daily to 10.3 million cubic meters, from only 8.7 million. The pumping hours have been improved from 10 hours per day to more than 20.4 hours per day. The amount of treated water has increased from 4.1 million cubic meters per day to 5.1 million cubic meters.
He pointed out that among the company's achievements is the closure of 129 untreated sewage dumping sites, the regulation of sewage tankers and launching it as a service provided by the company gradually in the cities and governorates of the Kingdom, in addition to improving the quality of tertiary-treated water from 64% to more than 86% to further protect the environment.
