Saidan, British ambassador lay cornerstone for 31km sanitation project

AMMAN — Minister of Water and Irrigation Motasem Saidan and British Ambassador to Jordan Bridget Brind on Thursday laid the cornerstone for a pipeline project for transmission of wastewater from the Ain Ghazal primary treatment station to the Khirbet Al Samra treatment station.

The project, at a cost of 33 million euros, is funded jointly by a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and grants from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the World Bank's Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF), the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported citing a ministry statement.

The 31-kilometre project will be implemented by a local contractor, the statement added.

Saidan said that the carrier will be a “qualitative addition” to the sanitation sector in the Kingdom, notably increasing transmission and treatment capacities of wastewater to be reused for various development purposes.

The British envoy highlighted her country and the EBRD’s efforts towards providing £14 million for the new pipeline, which would support Jordan’s water security and sustainable economic growth.

Highlighting the importance of the project, the diplomat said that it would ease water scarcity, one of Jordan's biggest environmental concerns, estimating that more than two million people will benefit from it.

“This partnership with the Water Authority of Jordan, with the support of GCFF and FCDO, will help develop the municipal sector in the country and assist in improving the quality of sewage- and wastewater-treatment infrastructure, contributing to the delivery of better services,” said Philip ter Woort, EBRD Regional Head, Eastern Mediterranean, in an EBRD statement.

Since the start of its operations in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD has provided more than 1.4 billion euros in financing for 54 projects, the statement said.