Consultants invited to express interest in Lebanese water projects

17 December 2013

Work will involve providing consulting services for a potable water plant along with a PPP plan for the country’s water sector

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has invited companies to express interest in a consulting contract for water projects in Lebanon.

The work will involve designing and tendering a potable water treatment plant (WTP) and developing a plan for a public-private partnership (PPP) programme for Lebanon’s water sector. Consultants have until 22 December to submit expressions of interest.

The WTP will have a capacity of 250,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) and will serve the Greater Beirut area. The PPP plan will cover the regulation of the procurement of PPP projects in the country’s water sector for a period of five years.

The Lebanese government has received financing from the Arab Financing Facility for Infrastructure (AFFI) for contracting the consultant. The AFFI is a partnership of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Investment Bank, the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The Technical Assistance Facility (TAF), a component of the AFFI, works to raise awareness, enabling environment and transaction advisory services to Arab governments to assist in developing PPP programmes.

The client for the project, the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), has received a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to cover the project.

The estimated $200m Greater Beirut Water Supply Project (GBWSP) is designed to strengthen the capacity of the Beirut Mount Lebanon Water Establishment, the utility responsible for the operation and efficiency of the urban water supply in the area. The project will benefit more than 2 million people in Southern Beirut.

Lebanon’s government has been planning ways to improve the water supply in Greater Beirut since the early 1960s. The project will involve increasing the supply of drinkable water and improving the pipes running into buildings in Beirut. The proposed GBWSP will involve building two water tunnels, three big storage reservoirs, 16 supply reservoirs, a water treatment plan and new smaller pipelines, pumping stations and household metres.

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