The debates drag on

At the recent World Water Forum in Istanbul, it was good to hear some new topics being discussed such as the energy-water linkage, the need for water-related data and the impact of the financial crisis on the water sector.

But one set of debates that never seem to go away are the ‘Is water a human right?’ debate which leads to the ‘Shouldn’t water be free?’ debate which opens the floodgates for “Should water be managed by the public or private sector?” debate.

Saudi goes the private way

At a major roadshow last November, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Water and Electricity (MOWE) declared that it had completed the process of reforming the water sector in the Kingdom. According to the Minister Abdullah Al-Hussayen, the major result of this reform process was the establishment of the National Water Company.  

The National Water Company, which owns the water assets of the country has been corporatised and prepared for an initial public offering. About 70% of the Kingdom’s drinking water is currently sourced from desalination plants. “We embrace the challenge of transforming the water sector, and creating a world-class water utility,” said the Saudi Minister. “In order to meet this objective, we will engage the private sector through a public-private-partnership approach (PPP). We are confident that the involvement of private operators will help to improve the overall performance,” he said.