Times of Oman reported that the Partnerships Technical Bureau in Kuwait has officially launched the Umm Al Hayman Wastewater Project issuing a request for expressions of interest from the private sector for the development of a new Waste water treatment plant.

As per report, this plant will increase the southern region of Kuwait's capacity for dealing with its waste water by nearly 20 times compared to the existing plant capacity.

The Umm Al Hayman project will be the second water and wastewater sector initiative to be developed in Kuwait under a Public Private Partnership model, where the plant will be built, financed, owned and operated in partnership with private sector companies. The Partnerships Technical Bureau was created by the Kuwaiti government in 2008 to manage private sector participation in the expansion of the country's infrastructure.

Dr Hashem Altabtabaei project director at the PTB said that "This project will benefit over 1.25 million Kuwaiti citizens and help lay the foundations for dealing with the country's wastewater needs for the foreseeable future. This plant is specifically designed to grow along with the region's needs and it's envisaged that it will have an eventual capacity of 700,000 cubic meters per day by 2020 from an initial capacity of 500,000 cubic meters. Effective management of the country's wastewater is of paramount importance and this plant will further improve the quality of life of citizens."

Mr Altabtabaei said that "Essential infrastructure development is vital for sustainable economic growth, and what's important to note here is that the project is being implemented by an innovative PPP approach echoed the HSBC advisory team. This model will allow the Kuwait government to efficiently deploy its financial resources and at the same time ensure that the country benefits from best in class technology and knowledge transfer in the water and wastewater sector."

Mr Simon Vaughan Johnson CEO of HSBC Kuwait said that "This is a positive indication of progress being made on the Government's National Development Plan with strong support from the PTB and HSBC remains fully committed to further supporting such strategic initiatives in Kuwait's infrastructure sector."

(Sourced from Times of Oman)