Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Work is going on in full swing to make Qatar’s ambitious QR1.6 billion Hamad Port food security project operational within a year, a senior official of German firm Dorsch Qatar has said.
Dorsch Qatar is assisting Doha-based Al Jaber Engineering as a project manager for developing the facilities.
"The project is going on as per schedule. More than 70 percent work on the project is already complete. Now we are working on the final stages of the construction. It will be operational next year,” Dorsch Qatar Operations Director Peter Neuschaefer told Qatar Tribune.
Being developed on an area of 53 hectares, the project consists of specialised units for processing, manufacturing, and refining of rice, raw sugar and edible oils.
A first-of-its-kind in the country, the food-processing plant will have the minimum daily capacity to produce 300 tonnes of sugar, 500 tonnes of rice and 200 tonnes of cooking oils.
"Once the food-processing and storage facility becomes operational, it will ensure a stockpile for 3 million people for two years for each commodity processed on any given day,” Neuschaefer said.
"After meeting the demand of the local market, at least 30 percent of the food items processed at the plant could be exported,” he said.
Neuschaefer said the project is being developed as per the best international practices and standards.
"It will have high storage, packaging, conveyance and handling capacity by utilising the latest technologies,” he said.
Neuschaefer said the facility is developed in such a way that production capacity can be increased if required in the future.
He said raw materials for processing will be sourced from various countries and the by-products will be used; mainly as animal fodder in Qatar.
According to reports, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will hand over the project to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) once the facility is fully complete. MOCI will then awarding contracts to private parties for its operation.
One of the few projects to run on the lines of public-private partnership (PPP) model in the country, this food security project is aimed at ensuring food sufficiency in the country and at the same time make Qatar a food importing and exporting hub in the region.
Doha
Work is going on in full swing to make Qatar’s ambitious QR1.6 billion Hamad Port food security project operational within a year, a senior official of German firm Dorsch Qatar has said.
Dorsch Qatar is assisting Doha-based Al Jaber Engineering as a project manager for developing the facilities.
"The project is going on as per schedule. More than 70 percent work on the project is already complete. Now we are working on the final stages of the construction. It will be operational next year,” Dorsch Qatar Operations Director Peter Neuschaefer told Qatar Tribune.
Being developed on an area of 53 hectares, the project consists of specialised units for processing, manufacturing, and refining of rice, raw sugar and edible oils.
A first-of-its-kind in the country, the food-processing plant will have the minimum daily capacity to produce 300 tonnes of sugar, 500 tonnes of rice and 200 tonnes of cooking oils.
"Once the food-processing and storage facility becomes operational, it will ensure a stockpile for 3 million people for two years for each commodity processed on any given day,” Neuschaefer said.
"After meeting the demand of the local market, at least 30 percent of the food items processed at the plant could be exported,” he said.
Neuschaefer said the project is being developed as per the best international practices and standards.
"It will have high storage, packaging, conveyance and handling capacity by utilising the latest technologies,” he said.
Neuschaefer said the facility is developed in such a way that production capacity can be increased if required in the future.
He said raw materials for processing will be sourced from various countries and the by-products will be used; mainly as animal fodder in Qatar.
According to reports, the Ministry of Transport and Communications will hand over the project to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) once the facility is fully complete. MOCI will then awarding contracts to private parties for its operation.
One of the few projects to run on the lines of public-private partnership (PPP) model in the country, this food security project is aimed at ensuring food sufficiency in the country and at the same time make Qatar a food importing and exporting hub in the region.