Riyadh reviews water tariffs
The Ministry of Water & Electricity is planning 'drastic' reform of water bills in the kingdom.
Water & Electricity Minister Abdullah al-Hussayen says he is looking to revamp tariffs to reduce consumption. Water bills are heavily subsidised by Riyadh and the low prices encourage high levels of water consumption.
'We are considering tariff reform and have set up an advisory committee to look at this,' says Al-Hussayen. 'This will be a drastic change in concept from the existing tariff structure. We will submit our findings to the Supreme Economic Council and the Ashura Assembly.'
The news of the planned tariff reform comes as the ministry searches for contractors to run Jeddah's water systems.
The ministry issued a request for qualifications on 24 July for management contracts, which will cover the water network and wastewater management. The aim is to improve water supply to the city's 3 million residents.
Under the water network management contract, the contractor will be responsible for water distribution, wastewater collection, customer services and water production from two wells with a total capacity of 8,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). The contractor will be paid a fixed monthly fee and performance-based compensation.
For the wastewater management contract, the contractor will be responsible for the management, operation, maintenance and development of wastewater facilities in the city.
Companies have until 7 August to submit prequalification documents. Prequalified firms will be selected by 20 August and a request for proposals will be issued a day later. Bids are due by 27 November, with the contracts likely to be awarded by the end of March 2008.
Firms that were prequalified to manage the Riyadh water network will be automatically prequalified for the Jeddah contracts if they are interested.
www.meed.com/powerwater
The Ministry of Water & Electricity is planning 'drastic' reform of water bills in the kingdom.
Water & Electricity Minister Abdullah al-Hussayen says he is looking to revamp tariffs to reduce consumption. Water bills are heavily subsidised by Riyadh and the low prices encourage high levels of water consumption. 'We are considering tariff reform and have set up an advisory committee to look at this,' says Al-Hussayen. 'This will be a drastic change in concept from the existing tariff structure. We will submit our findings to the Supreme Economic Council and the Ashura Assembly.' The news of the planned tariff reform comes as the ministry searches for contractors to run Jeddah's water systems. The ministry issued a request for qualifications on 24 July for management contracts, which will cover the water network and wastewater management. The aim is to improve water supply to the city's 3 million residents. Under the water network management contract, the contractor will be responsible for water distribution, wastewater collection, customer services and water production from two wells with a total capacity of 8,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d). The contractor will be paid a fixed monthly fee and performance-based compensation. For the wastewater management contract, the contractor will be responsible for the management, operation, maintenance and development of wastewater facilities in the city. Companies have until 7 August to submit prequalification documents. Prequalified firms will be selected by 20 August and a request for proposals will be issued a day later. Bids are due by 27 November, with the contracts likely to be awarded by the end of March 2008. Firms that were prequalified to manage the Riyadh water network will be automatically prequalified for the Jeddah contracts if they are interested. www.meed.com/powerwaterThis content is only available to full MEED package subscribers (MEED magazine and MEED.com).
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