DAMASCUS: Bursa-listed Weida (M) Bhd has successfully delivered its first sewage treatment plant, Zabadani STP in Syria, that has the capacity to treat polluting wastewater to an equivalent population of 120,000 in the Bludan mountain region.

The treatment plant was delivered to the Syrian government at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otari and Minister of Housing and Construction Omar Ibrahim Ghalawangi on April 15, Weida said in a statement on Monday, April 26.

The plant was completed in a record 18 months and is part of a €75 million (RM375 million) contract awarded by the Syrian government to Weida in 2007, through its subsidiary Renexus Weida Sdn Bhd. The contract was awarded through a government-to-government initiative.

The project, the first major one by a Malaysian company in Syria, is part of a contract that involves the formulation of a sewerage master plan to serve four million people in the country.

The contract also involves the building of five sewage treatment plants and 15 water plants from conceptualisation, design, construction and commissioning on a turnkey basis. The project is partly funded by the Malaysian government through Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Bhd.

"The project saw a successful transfer of Malaysian technologies to Syria and customisation of Malaysian technologies into Syrian local conditions as well as the excellent technical performance of the plant," said Renexus Weida country manager Dr Hoh Choon Yee.

Weida, whose core business activities are related to conservation of environment, is expected to deliver another two sewage treatment plants — Hafier Foqa STP and Darayaa STP — this year, and Jamrayaa STP next year.

Currently, the group is negotiating for more projects in Syria, including a 30,000-cubic-metre per day water reclamation plant, a 50,000-cubic-metre per day centralised industrial wastewater treatment plant and more sewage treatment plants.