Disi Water project: back to square one!

Article by: Batir Wardam

Just like a new sequel in a boring movie, the long-awaited Disi water conveyor project, aiming to transfer drinking water from the Disi aquifer south of Jordan to the thirsty capital Amman is back to sqaure one. Last week the government has decided to go back to the option of BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) methodology for soliciting interests from investors to take the financial responsibility of funding the 500.0 million US $ project.

The story of the Disi option started seriously in 1998. After a disastrous summer in which drinking water in Amman was polluted and a chronic water scarcity future was envisaged, the government wanted to explore strategic alternatives to close the water shortage gap in Jordan which has made the ordinary Jordanian citizen get 150 cubic meters of water annualy compared to 1000 cubic meters set by the World Health Organization as the threshold of water poverty.

Our poverty is not only with water but also with cash from the treasury, the poor social responsibility of the private sector and a culture of corruption. The government wanted money to support the project and it has initially invited investors in 1998 to finance the project with the BOT method.

After failing to secure the interest of investors the government opened political negotiations with Libya and Iran to provide support but both failed. In 2002 another round of BOT invitations was sent in a much reduced budget and this time the offers came. The government almost struck a deal with saudi Auge in 2004 to initiate the project by the BOT but both parties did not agree on the final cost of the water reaching the consumer. The Government wanted 0.60 JDs per one cubic meter as a final consumer price while the company offered 0.89 JDs which was thought to be too expensive, and yes it was.

Then came the decision in 2005 to turn into the conventional method of establishing a public holding company and then contracted to Armed Forces Investment fund to take responsibility. It seems the deal was not successful and no actual success was made on the ground.

Last week the government went back to the BOT option, but the main question remains on how much will the water cost for the consumer and what are the environmental and social consequences of such a project.