Iraq’s Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works has invited companies to express interest in a consultancy contract for the project to build a water treatment plant in the Al-Naser area of the Thi Qar governorate.

The work will involve providing construction supervision of the partially-built water plant. The plant was started by a previously contracted firm that had its contract terminated, following a failure to complete the project as agreed. Consultants have until 5 January to express interest in the project.

Under the previous contractor, the pumping station component of the plant is 55 per cent complete, the elevated storage tank is 55 per cent complete and the raw water intake infrastructure is about 10 per cent complete. The Iraqi government has received funding from the International Development Association (IDA) towards the cost of the project.

The project is part of the government’s efforts to upgrade and expand the country’s water infrastructure, which has suffered from a combination of underinvestment and the armed conflicts over the past 25 years.

In February, the UAE’s Metito was awarded a $6.8m contract to design and build a wastewater treatment plant in the area south of Kufa, Iraq.

Metito will design and build the wastewater treatment plant and will supply all of the mechanical and electrical equipment. The plant will have a capacity of 50,000 cubic metres per day. The client for the project is F&B Investment, which is overseeing the scheme for the Najaf governorate.