Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani oversees the signing of the $423 million Dukan–Sulaymaniyah 3 water project contract between the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism and Habica Company in Erbil.
KRG signs $423 million Dukan–Sulaymaniyah water project to ease city’s chronic shortage
ERBIL — The Kurdistan Regional Government on Sunday signed the contract for the Dukan–Sulaymaniyah 3 water project at the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism headquarters in Erbil, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and Minister of Municipalities and Tourism Sasan Awni.
Valued at $423,890,000, the project will be implemented under the ministry’s budget and executed by the Habika Company. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the Kurdistan Region and is expected to significantly ease Sulaymaniyah’s long-standing drinking water shortage.
Minister Sasan Awni welcomed the agreement, congratulating the people of Sulaymaniyah. “We are pleased to sign another major project that serves the people of the Kurdistan Region in the water sector,” he said. “The Dukan–Sulaymaniyah 3 project, with a cost of $423,890,000, will provide a lasting solution to Sulaymaniyah’s chronic water shortage.”
He said the project includes an intake station on the Little Zab River, a treatment plant with a capacity of 480,000 cubic meters per day — 240,000 cubic meters in its first phase — and two main transmission lines from Dukan to Sulaymaniyah, 1,400 millimeters in diameter and 112 kilometers in length. It will also include two pumping and elevation stations and an integrated power supply line. The treated water will meet both Iraqi and international quality standards.
Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said in a Facebook post, “The Dukan–Sulaymaniyah 3 pipeline is a vital and strategic project for the Kurdistan Regional Government, implemented at a cost of $423 million, and it will solve Sulaymaniyah’s water shortage for the next 30 years.”
He added, “I was pleased to oversee the signing ceremony between the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism and Habika Company. We will make every effort to complete the project within the scheduled timeline and deliver it to serve the beloved residents of Sulaymaniyah.”
The Dukan–Sulaymaniyah 3 project was approved by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in September 2025, with its funding increased from $398,486,000 to $423,890,000 to expand service coverage and improve implementation.
The first and second phases of the Dukan–Sulaymaniyah water system were completed in 1983 and 2008. The new phase will extend clean water to additional neighborhoods, ensuring a stable and long-term supply for the growing city.