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“Water Is A Necessity For The Poor And The Rich”, Says Hawas Bajawi, CEO, Al-Sharif Water Contracting Company | |
| Staff Writer |
When Hawas Bajawi became Chief Executive of the water sector at the AlSharif Group, his mandate was clear: Enable The Delivery Of Water Across The Saudi Desert. It’s what he’s spent her career thinking about, including in his previous roles as Design and Engineering Manager for Saudi Services For Electro Mechanic Works co. and National Water Company in the Al-Riyadh Governorate, as the Plant Operations Oversight Manager.
However, as Saudi Arabia buckles down on its commitment to deliver pure water to its citizens and increase livability and with Bajawi at his highest-ranking title yet gave him a renewed perspective to push new project development in the Kingdom. In this exclusive with Thirty to Net Zero, we talk about the finer nuances of water management in large cities with Hawas Bajawi including water supply and wastewater management.
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Q: What are the top 4 cities in Saudi and how do you see these cities transitioning to smart cities?
A: The most important city in Saudi Arabia is Riyadh, then Jeddah, Makkah, and then Dammam. These cities are hubs for Hajj (in Makkah), tourism as well as business. Over the next decade, we need to transition these normal cities to modern, sustainable smart cities.
Q: Please tell us more about the Al-Sharif contracting company and how they efficiently manage water desalination, water supply, and wastewater management in the Saudi Arabian desert?
A: Our clients are SWCC (Saline Water Conversion Corporation) and also NWC (National Water Company). We are working with both on the production and distribution of water. Saudi Arabia’s desalination plant is owned by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). The Kingdom’s main water source are Red Sea & Arabian Gulf Sea. After desalination by SWCC it is transported through long pipelines to the NWC tanks in the cities. The water going through the main pipeline goes into smaller pipes across the cities to distribute to the customers. And later NWC collect the sewage water for waste water management.
Q: Personally, you have always rated quality over profit. Has there ever been a time when you were forced to compromise?
A: We have never had to compromise. The efficiency of the water system in Saudi Arabia is based on the use of the most advanced technologies available today and our knowledge of controlling the production, transportation, distribution, and collection of water through a central control system for both SWCC and the NWC. This system is not widely used in the world due to its higher cost of deployment.
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Q: Not many engineers will choose water in the desert. How did you get involved personally in water and what do you advise for future engineers to become involved in water technology?
A: When I graduated in 2004, I began working for the National Water Company. Once when I visited a Pipe factory in 2005, the owner of this factory gave me the recommendation that the water sector is very important for all countries. It’s irrelevant whether they are poor countries or rich countries. Water is very important for humans to drink, to wash, for electricity, for waste management, for road constructions, for lighting, and for many other purposes such as industrial, medical, and human needs.
He said that whether you work in Saudi Arabia or later in Africa or in any other country, water is a necessity. He also explained that other sectors are driven by the economy of the country. If you are working in the oil and gas sector perhaps after a while if oil prices drop you may lose your job.
But the water sector is always pertinent. Water projects cannot be stopped. During the corona, only two projects were not put on hold, the first one was in the water sector and the second one was related to electricity and power supply.
During the Coronavirus period, I stayed at home only for three days as I was working to finish the projects on time to able to supply water to the public.
Q: Where do you see yourself and the growth of AlSharif Group in 10 years?
A: AlSharif Group started in 1980 and they have been working primarily in the electricity sector. I am working as a partner in the water sector for the AlSharif Group and I established this sector on the first of July 2020.
I don’t hire people as employees but as partners and the team supports me. I focus on optimising design, providing water-industry domain expertise, and project management skills to deliver large-high-quality water projects within the project budget.
Thanks to God, we now have projects valued at SR 1.15 billion in this short period. We also have a good reputation in the market. My target within the two years is to reach an SR 4 billion project value. It's not easy, but with the help of my team we should succeed, God willing.
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