How old is Belhasa Project’s Water Treatment Business? What is its scope of activities?
Our water treatment business has been in existence since the year 2000. Our scope of activities are packaged sewage treatment plants and small and medium-sized projects – Conventional/Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) and Sequential Bioreactor (SBR), extended to pumping stations (sewage lifting station, storm water lifting station, main irrigation water pumping station, potable water pumping station, rising mains); pipeline work such as drainage, storm water, potable water networks; district cooling systems (external district cooling pipeline, ETS rooms and mechanical/electrical installation for the complete cooling plant) and industrial wastewater treatment plants (like chromium reduction and pH control plant for concrete batching plants, effluent treatment plant for food industries and oilfield industries). We regard ourselves as wet-infrastructure contractors.
Greg Garner
What are your core strengths in this business? What were the factors that helped your company win the Ashghal contract in Qatar?
Sewage treatment plants and pumping stations are our main strengths. Our other strengths are strong technical expertise in the pre-tender and post-tender stages backed by process equipment/ mechanical/electrical/instrumentation engineering, civil works and quality control capabilities that have been accumulated over years together with deep awareness of environmental responsibility. With regard to the ASHGAL deal, the quality of work and the fact that our previous projects have been completed and handed over to BARWA without any major complaints were key factors. Also, we have a local presence in Qatar and have built up a great relationship with Ashgal. Our comprehensive technical and competitive commercial proposal for this tender clinched the deal for BHP Qatar.
What are the opportunities in the region’s water and wastewater treatment markets?
The demands or usage of sewage treatment / treated wastewater will continue to increase in the Middle East. Therefore, we expect an increasing number of wastewater treatment plants to go for tertiary treatment. The market for advanced wastewater treatment technologies like MBR and SBR is expected to increase in the coming years.
Do you intend to restrict the footprint of your water treatment business to the Middle East region for the present?
For wet-infrastructure projects, for the time being, we are bidding in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain markets. As a company, our main target market is the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region, but we will also consider anything within the MENA region as we have the capabilities and resources for the same. Of course, the competition in the market is hard and tough. However, we are confident of our strengths, the comprehensive technical submission and engineering value we offer to clients and the quality of our work.
In a recent press release, you observed that you see a strong growth for the Watertec Division in 2011.
Watertec has a wide range of projects in the pipeline. There is also strong demand for Watertec’s business in the market. To handle the growth, we will increase the number of technical personnel and be on the lookout for new technologies within a competitive price range.
What kind of growth platform do you envisage for Belhasa Projects over the next few years?
We are a diverse company and our fortunes will be mixed; nevertheless, the GCC has a growing population and everybody needs water. We anticipate continued growth for our wet infrastructure division for some time. We are looking for O&M contracts with major clients in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. However, BOOT-type contracts are not in our immediate plans but could be something for the near future.
Lastly, what are your pointers for success in the regional market?
Provide quality solutions, on time and on budget.
