An expansion of the Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant in Zarqa Governorate will commence in August to raise its capacity by around 37 per cent, officials said on Thursday. The expansion project is intended to improve the environment and public health conditions in the heavily populated area by properly treating growing amounts of wastewater and supplying farmers in the Jordan Valley with additional irrigation water, they said. The officials were speaking at the signing of an agreement for the expansion project, one of three projects managed and implemented by the Millennium Challenge Account-Jordan (MCA) and funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). “The existing plant, which treats wastewater from Amman and Zarqa, has almost reached its maximum hydraulic capacity. Therefore, the expansion project seeks to raise its capacity from 267,000 cubic metres per day to 364,800 cubic metres per day,” Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar said at the signing ceremony. The expansion of the wastewater treatment plant will also boost its capability to handle sludge, biological materials and other critical treatment requirements, Najjar added. “The plant’s expansion will start in August this year and will take 36 months for completion,” the minister noted. The Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion project will be carried out under a 25-year build-operate-transfer contract and is funded by the MCC grant and a group of financiers. The project will cost $185 million, $93 million will be extended from the MCC as part of its $275-million grant to Jordan, while the remainder will be paid by the Samra Plant Company — a consortium of Suez Environment, Infilco Degremont, Inc., and Morganti Group, Inc. — in addition to a group of financiers led by the Arab Bank. “… Now, we move full force forward into the implementation mode, to complete this compact on time and on budget…,” MCC CEO Daniel Yohannes said. The MCC’s grant programme, which went into effect in December last year, seeks to renovate and extend water networks in Zarqa. Three integrated projects will be implemented: a $108-million water network project, the $58-million Wastewater Network Project, and the Samra plant expansion project. US Ambassador to Jordan Stuart Jones said at Thursday’s signing that the five-year project would improve the quality and supply of water in Zarqa, create job opportunities and build a “world-class” treatment plant. The expansion of the treatment plant is expected to benefit around 375,000 households and a total of 2,020,000 people in Amman and Zarqa, and stimulate economic growth in Zarqa, which is home to over 52 per cent of the Kingdom’s industries, according to MCA-Jordan. MCA-Jordan was established in 2010 as a company fully owned by the government of Jordan to manage and implement the MCC-funded programme. From: The Jordan Times