Ministry announces tender for Maan water project

AMMAN  — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation announced on Wednesday the floating of a tender for a project to increase daily water supply in Maan Governorate by 3,000 cubic metres.

The project entails the construction of pumping stations, installation of operation boards and pumps for extracting water from wells and linking Maan’s Jatheh wells to a 15-kilometre carrier that transfers water to the 4,500-cubic-metre Tahouneh reservoir, Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazim El Naser said on Wednesday.

“The project seeks to raise the water per capita share and improve water supply across Maan and its districts by an additional amount of 3,000 cubic metres per day,” El Naser said.

The project will cost $371,000, according to ministry spokesperson Omar Salameh, who noted that the project is funded by the Saudi government under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grant.

In 2011, the GCC allocated $5 billion to finance development projects in Jordan between 2012 and 2016. Some $425.4 million of the grant has been allocated to water and sanitation projects.

Located 220 kilometres south of the capital, Maan Governorate’s daily per capita share of water stands at 80 litres, according to the ministry, which said that water loss due to deteriorating networks and violations is affecting supply to residents.

The governorate’s population currently stands at 144,083, according to the 2015 census.

The ministry is implementing several water projects in the southern governorate and has recently announced the start of operation of three new wells in Petra District, at a capacity of 600 cubic metres per hour to improve supply in the desert town, according to Salameh.

The three new wells were part of a project to provide additional water to the residents of Petra District and adjacent villages. It entailed the construction of water reservoirs, operation rooms and the installation of 12 kilometres of pipelines to serve over 27,000 people.