JEDDAH — Speakers at the second session on the second day of the 14th International Conference for Operation and Maintenance in Arab Countries here called on adapting different government regulations to evaluate the operation and maintenance in government departments. They also requested the issuance of licensed certificates for those working in this sector. In addition, they requested forming an operation and maintenance code that shall be implemented in all government departments, this code should be the basis of evaluating the safety in government departments. They also recommended establishing special independent laboratories that investigate machines. They also highlighted the role that privatization has on developing the operations in government sector. Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Abdulgani Abu Al-Hamayil, head of mechanical maintenance at the Saline Water Conversion Cooperation, told reporters that the company produces 80% of local water production which is 30% of the world consumption. He said that they pay special attention to the maintenance. He elaborated that the SWCC is interested in large- scale privatization especially that the SWCC has been supported by the government for years. Privatization, he said, will have a positive impact on the development of the SWCC, and noted that this will not affect the prices provided to end-users. The head of the International Maintenance Organization Zuhair Al-Sarraj said participants requested the Saudi National Committee for legislation and standardization of operation and maintenance to set legislations that can be implemented in the Arab countries to have a unified code of for maintenance in the Arab countries. The conference ended its sessions Tuesday. The conference set 11 recommendations to improve the operation and maintenance in the Arab countries. The recommendations were set by 70 specialists from 18 countries who presented 55 scientific papers. The conference discussed methods to improve maintenance in water saline, buildings, communication as well as managing maintenance and providing consultations and training in this sector. The three-day event was organized by OMAINTEC and sponsored by the Ministry of Defense under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdulaziz.
