Oman’s restructured water, wastewater sector to drive efficiency

The establishment of two new entities to oversee water and wastewater services in the Sultanate will help ensure efficiency and sustainability in the operation of the two sets of networks, according to Nama Group, the government holding company under whose auspices the new subsidiaries have been created.

Oman Water and Wastewater Services Company (OWWC), the latest addition to Nama Group’s sizable portfolio of state-owned subsidiaries, will oversee water and wastewater services across the Sultanate, with the exception of Dhofar Governorate.

It was created out of the merger of the Public Authority for Water (Diam) and Oman Wastewater Services Company (Haya Water).

Also resulting from the restructuring exercise is Dhofar Integrated Services Company (DISC), which will be responsible for potable water and wastewater services, in addition to power distribution and supply, in Dhofar Governorate.

DISC has been created out of the merger of three existing entities: Dhofar Power Company (DPC), Directorate General of Water – Dhofar, and Salalah Sanitary & Drainage Services (SSDC).

Importantly, policymaking for the restructured water and wastewater sector, which was hitherto shared by the Public Authority for Water (Diam) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR), is now the sole prerogative of the latter Ministry.

The sector regulator, however, is now the Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR).

At a recent media briefing, Nama Group officials said the restructured and integrated sector will help deliver, among other things, significant improvements in water security across the country, as well as service reliability across potable water and wastewater networks.

Also anticipated are enhancements in operational and network efficiency, quality of supplied potable water, service quality and network coverage.

The integration of potable water and wastewater services will also contribute to mitigating the current fiscal burden on the government in subsidising these services.

Furthermore, the newly created entities will be able to procure potable water and wastewater services at competitive rates. Additionally, environmental impacts from the effective operation of these services will be mitigated as well, they added.