Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry has completed 11 out of 20 operations under its Kitchener Drain water-quality improvement project, with two more awarded and four due to be retendered, the ministry said.
Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam reviewed implementation progress, contracting procedures and outstanding works during a meeting on the ministry’s components of the project.
Completed works include strengthening and protecting the Kitchener Drain’s embankments, rehabilitating secondary drains, protecting slopes and banks, replacing and upgrading water structures and supplying equipment to measure water flows.
The ministry said two contracts had been awarded and were moving through final contracting procedures. They cover on-farm irrigation upgrades across 700 feddans in the Kitchener Drain area and the construction of two new pumping and mixing stations at Samatay and El-Hamoul.
A new consultant has also been selected to provide technical support to the project implementation unit and supervise the design and construction of the two pumping stations.
Four operations are due to be retendered, including the rehabilitation of seven pumping stations, the upgrade of the Abu Sكين emergency centre in Kafr El-Sheikh governorate, dredging and embankment works covering 46.7 kilometres of the Kitchener Drain and its branches, and the supply of water-quality monitoring equipment.
Sewilam instructed officials to accelerate contracting and retendering procedures and keep the project on schedule.
The project is intended to improve water quality in the Kitchener Drain and increase the efficiency of agricultural drainage water reuse, benefiting areas in Gharbia, Kafr El-Sheikh and Dakahlia governorates.
The ministry’s component also includes pumping-station rehabilitation, water infrastructure upgrades, dredging and the development of systems to monitor water flows and quality.
The ministry statement did not explain the status of three of the 20 operations, after accounting for 11 completed, two awarded and four to be retendered. It also did not provide a final completion date or the project’s total cost.
