Protechnique, an international contractor in the fields of water and waste water treatment, healthcare, and oil and gas supply, has been awarded a $80-million contract for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the Basra water pumping station, P2R.

The contract for Water Pumping Station Package Two forms part of a project to enhance the potable water supply to Basra. Targeted for completion in December 2018, the project is funded by the Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).

Protechnique said it won the deal against stiff competition from other contenders including Toyota and Al Ghanem Construction, Arab Contractors, and Terna, among others.

The project entails installation of the main pumping and water circulation stations to pump the water from a desalination project - which is already in operation and built by a joint venture of Hitachi and OTV - to Basra in Iraq.

Aows Abdulla, Protechnique’s management director for the Middle East region, told Gulf Construction that the company’s scope of works includes EPC of a 300,000-cu-m-per-day pumping station.

It comprises a transmission reservoir and transmission pump station, chlorine building, blending chambers, electrical substation, generator building, in-plant/yard pipes, valve chambers and flow meter chambers.

The contract also involves construction of watch towers, on-site roads, guard houses and ancillary facilities, said Abdulla.

The engineering works are expected to take four months, followed by construction.

Commenting on the contract win, Abdulla said: "It is an unprecedented opportunity to be involved in such a project that will undoubtedly support the supply of potable water to the denizens of Basra. At Protechnique, we believe it is our utmost duty to give back to our community so that we may all thrive."

"In addition to its communal benefits, this JICA-funded project will give our company a new international dimension that will assist us in reaching as many beneficiaries as possible," he remarked.

Daniel Park, Asia regional director, said: "Working on such a project is a monumental success and my team and I are committed to garnering all the resources within our power to ensure the realisation of this milestone development."-TradeArabia News Service