Oman's Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar Sayyid Musallam bin Ali Al Busaidi has signed two contracts for the operation and maintenance of desalination plants.

An agreement worth RO625,360 ($1.61 million) was signed for a desalination station in the wilayat of Dhalkoot while another RO341,575 contract went for a similar station in the wilayat of Sadah.

Pact for new roads in Dhofar

Muscat: Agreements have been signed for the construction of two new roads at a total cost of RO3 million ($7.8 million) in the Dhofar Governorate in Oman.

One of them, the 23.5-km Shirshiti-Ambrouf-Rakhyout Road, is to be built by Oman Renaissance Company and will be completed by February 2002. The other road, the 9.6-km Salalah-Thumrait dual carriageway, will be constructed by Al Nasr Arab Company.

The company will also pave 2.7-km of service roads and two roundabouts and complete its project by October 2001.

11 submit bids for 'third crossing'

Abu Dhabi: Eleven contractors have submitted bids for the first phase of Abu Dhabi's Dh250 million ($69.4 million) "third crossing" project.

The phase involves the construction of a 350 m bridge over the Umm Al Nar roundabout and a bridge link to the existing Maqta bridge within 30 months.

The second phase, tenders for which will be floated in September, will cover a new interchange and a 2.5-km link road on Abu Dhabi island.

The third and largest phase includes a 920 m bridge with four lanes of highway. The UK's High Point Rendel has been selected as the civil and structural engineer for the entire project.

Hospital extension tenders soon

Ajman: Tenders are to be invited by the year-end for the construction of an extension to the Shaikh Khalifa Hospital in Ajman, UAE.

The extension building, to be erected on an area of 4,000 sq m, will house external clinics for the treatment of a variety of ailments as well as a pharmacy and an X-ray room.

The project is in the design stage with the preliminary designs having been approved. Construction costs are estimated at about Dh10 million ($2.7 million).

The building is envisaged as a single-storey structure, allowing for possible expansion at a later date.

Construction work is expected to begin early next year for completion in 18 months.