MIDDLE EAST WATER NEWS IN BRIEF

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* Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is planning to retender a planned new 60,000m3/d wastewater treatment plant at an alternative location to that originally earmarked at Al Thakira, north of Doha.

The tender process is scheduled to restart within the next two months, most probably with the same bidders involved (see Reuse Tracker p60). Ashghal estimates that around a year’s worth of progress on the project procurement has been lost.

* Jerusalem’s municipally owned Gihon water and sewage company has put a plan to float 20% of its stock on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange on the backburner. The country’s largest municipal water and sewage company had hoped to raise up to $50 million from the offering.

* Alastair de Reuck has left the post of Chief Executive Officer at Oman Power and Water Procurement Company, having occupied the position since November 2008. Clive Dalton is the acting CEO.

* Kardan subsidiary Tahal has signed a €143 million contract with the Ministry of Public Works in Angola to execute an integrated agricultural and regional development project. The initiative includes the development and construction of the water supply, sewerage and drainage system for a new rural settlement, and the irrigation of farmland. Tahal coordinated the structuring of the financing, which is expected to close in the first half of 2010.

* Morgan Stanley and Orascom Construction Industries have agreed in principle to form a 50/50 joint venture to develop and invest in infrastructure-related assets across the Middle East and Africa.

* Qatar’s General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) has chosen French environmental consultant Sogreah for a feasibility study to investigate the state’s first solar seawater desalination plant. The project forms part of the Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP). The Qatari authorities have set an ambitious target of producing up to 5 million m3/d of water to irrigate inland agricultural areas.

* CH2M Hill has firmed up its $2.7 million joint venture with the Olayan Group. Water and power production plants in Saudi Arabia will be among the targets of CH2MOlayan.