Jordan's water ministry launched Tuesday an international tender for a project aimed at developing the country's water resources, ranked in the world's bottom 10.
The ministry announced in the local press and on its website a request for the private sector to take part in a project aimed at exploiting the underground water table in Disi (South) for a 40-year period under a build-operate-transfer arrangement.
The project consists of pumping from 65 wells to Amman from Disi, 325 kilometers (200 miles) south of the capital, an estimated 100 million cubic meters (3.5 billion cubic feet) of water.
The cost of the four-year project is estimated at $600 million, of which $200 million will be borne by the Jordanian government.
Amman is still hoping for money promised by Libya one year ago for the Disi project.
In May, Jordan launched an appeal for international investment in the construction of the Al Wehda dam on the Yarmouk River along the country's border with Syria.
The dam will create a reservoir with a capacity of 220 million cubic meters (7.8 billion cubic feet), which will be equally shared by the two countries.
This largely desert kingdom annually needs about 1.1 billion cubic meters (38.8 billion cubic feet) of water, but the supply this year is forecast at only 850 million cubic meters (30 billion cubic feet).
The Wihda and Disi projects are expected to provide the country with drinking water through 2020 -- AMMAN (AFP)
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