Saudi Arabia has awarded a $95.4 million contract to a consortium to manage water services and environmental treatment in Riyadh. The seven-year-long contract, awarded by kingdom’s National Water Company, went to a French company, Veolia, and Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies.
The contract is tied to 14 main indicators, including improving and developing the customer experience, raising operational efficiency through cost savings and reducing water losses, and improving network management, according to a statement by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Management contracts are one of the main pillars to improve the sector and prepare it for full privatization, said National Water Company CEO Mohammed Al-Mowkley.
NWC has completed 92 percent of its project to restructure the 13 administrative regions into six sectors, and as of November 2021, the process will be complete when the northern sector has been created, he said.
Management contracts to improve the performance of the sector’s services will all have been awarded by the end of 2021, he said.
If the targets are achieved after the third year of the contract, the National Water Company will be able to move directly to the stage of concession contracts, in which the private sector will take full responsibility for water services, and not wait until the seven years are over, he said.