Jordan Times
Monday, May 10, 2004
Khirbet Al Samra groundbreaking ceremony to be held today
By Sahar Aloul
AMMAN — Two of the country's strategic water
projects, Khirbet Al Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Zara-Maeen
Project, will break ground today and tomorrow in an official ceremony held at
the projects' sites.
Minister of Water and Irrigation and Minister of Agriculture Hazem Nasser along
with several other officials from the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the US embassy will participate in the groundbreaking
ceremony of the $169 million Al Samra plant, held under the patronage of Prime
Minister Faisal Fayez
USAID will finance $78.1 million of the total cost of the plant, $13.9 million
will be funded by the government and $17 million will be put up by the Al Samra
Plant Consortium grouping several international firms.
The plant will be constructed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis as the
first public-private partnership for a wastewater treatment facility in the
region.
The new plant will treat up to 530,000 million cubic metres (mcm) of wastewater
per day, thus freeing up drinking water by reusing treated water and decreasing
agricultural and industrial use of potable water.
The water treatment facility is expected to become operational by 2006 and will
benefit some 2 million inhabitants of the Zarqa and Greater Amman areas.
The $125 million Zara-Maeen project will increase potable water supplies for
Greater Amman and Dead Sea resort areas by 47mcm per year and will benefit some
2.5 million citizens as well as 20,000 tourists according to water experts.
The project, expected to be completed in 2006, is also funded by USAID through a
$104 million grant and $11 million from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.