02/09/2014 01:21 AST
Haya Water will be investing an average of OMR100 million each year on various projects in the next decade, including the construction of sewage network, sea fallout system and sewage treatment plants, according to a senior official at the company.
A budget of around OMR2.2 billion had been envisaged for the implementation of projects between 2002 and 2025, Eng Said Rashid Al Asmi, projects general manager at Haya Water, told the Times of Oman here on Monday.
However, 55 per cent of the budget has not been committed yet, he said on the sidelines of the first annual drainage rehabilitation and flood control conference, which closes today in Golden Tulip Hotel.
Haya Water, which was established in 2002, will be spending OMR100 million every year on its projects in the stated time frame, Al Asmi noted.
The event was attended by over 90 international and regional drainage, sewage, flood control and dam construction experts as well as representatives from Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, Muscat Municipality, Haya Water, National Survey Authority of the Ministry of Defence and Oman Water Society.
Commenting on Haya Water's role in drainage development, he said that the company does not specialises in this field but builds its facilities in such a way that they are not damaged by flood and storms and has been taking measure to prevent particular areas from being flooded with sewage in case of flood.
"We put the drainage system around the plant and into the wadi areas," he said, adding that the sea outfall system developed in particular areas plays a key role in case of any emergency.
Sea outfall is a pipeline from a sewage treatment plant (STP) into the sea and would prevent the areas from being flooded with sewage in the event of heavy rain, storm, or flood, Al Asmi explained.
According to him, the length of the pipeline varies from 1.8 kilometres to 3 kilometres.
Ongoing projects
Commenting on the sea outfall projects, the official noted that the one in Seeb is about to be completed and phase 1 of the project in Ansab has already been finished.
Now, work is underway on phase 2 of the project in Ansab and the project in Darsait is under construction, he added.
"All these projects will be completed in two or three years from now." Asked about the projects in the tendering process, Al Asmi said, "We are designing Seeb phase 2 STP. We are evaluating the Ansab and Al Misfah STP. The network for Seeb areas is under evaluation, and we have also initiated studies for phase 3" of the project for Seeb area. Haya Water had earlier announced plans to connect 80 per cent of the residents in the wilayat of Muscat to the sewage network by 2020.
The conference on drainage and flood featured presentations from local authorities as well as international experts such as Bahrain's Ministry of Works and Abu Dhabi Municipality.
The event explored several sub-themes which include: analysing the current and future drainage systems and networks, flood control and dam construction projects in Oman, flood risk assessment and identifying potential flooding areas, learning from regional and international best practice case studies on implementing a sustainable drainage infrastructure, understanding the latest flood control techniques and strategies and planning, maintaining and enhancing flood protection systems.
The sponsors and exhibiting companies included ACO International, MHD Project and Building Materials Division, MEA Water Management, Ali Al Aufy Trading, BIRCO Middle East United Gulf Pipe Manufacturing Co LLC and Bernard Ingenieure ZT GmbH.
Times of Oman
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