BAHRAIN awarded a total of 82 contracts in three sectors – roads, sanitation and buildings – in 2011, registering a 25-per-cent rise over the figures for 2010, despite last year’s unrest, Minister of Works Essam Khalaf said.

The Ministry of Works (MoW) also floated 104 tenders in 2011, an increase of 40 per cent over 2010.

In January this year, the MoW invited bids for 13 projects worth about BD17 million ($45 million).

Meanwhile, the MoW is implementing a number of major changes to improve the way it operates and offer better services, following a public survey conducted recently to gauge customer feedback.

Disclosing details of the survey, assistant under-secretary for technical affairs at the MoW Ahmed Al Khayat said: “Of the general public who were interviewed, 49.2 per cent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with roads services, 11.9 per cent said they were dissatisfied, while the rest did not comment.”

With regard to sanitary services, he said 52.9 per cent expressed satisfaction while 14.9 per cent said they were dissatisfied.

The survey was conducted MoW in conjunction with Bahrain-based survey specialist ACK Solutions.