$892m infrastructure boost set
Manama: Infrastructure projects worth BD335 million ($892.7 million) are in the pipeline for Bahrain, with some already under way, according Works Ministry assistant under-secretary Mohammed Khalil Al Sayed.
Of these, BD200 million worth of contracts involve the Khalifa bin Salman Port project, he said.
Another major contract being executed currently involves the construction of a BD54 million sewage treatment plant, which will significantly alleviate the pressure on the country's precious water resources, especially aquifers, said Al Sayed.
In addition to the infrastructure projects, he said another project expected within the next few months will be the BD30 million Bahrain Racing Circuit.
Al Sayed urged the private sector to become more active in partnering the government in the execution of projects.
Facelift for government houses
Dubai: Dubai government has approved a Dh30 million ($8.16 million) project for constructing and carrying out maintenance on 67 government houses in Hatta in the UAE emirate.
The Dubai Municipality recently completed the distribution of nearly 45 houses in the Jeema area of Hatta, which were built at a total cost of Dh20.5 million, a report said.
Qassim Sultan, director general of Dubai Municipality, said that the new project will be undertaken within 395 days.
New terminal for Sharjah airport
Sharjah: Sharjah International Airport will start construction on a new terminal building later this year, a report said. The multi-million-dollar project, to be funded internally, would be completed in 2003, said Mohammed Saif Al Hajri, director general of the Department of Civil Aviation.
The project envisages the construction of a new facility for arriving passengers and will be built alongside the existing Arrivals hall, and be connected to the complex by a bridge, he said.
It will also have three separate conveyors for luggage-handling, apart from moving walkways and allied facilities.
"The new terminal will double our existing capacity, offering vastly more spacious premises for our duty-free operations, immigration procedures and security personnel," he added.
Al Hajri said this first stage of expansion had been designed to cope with the anticipated rise in passenger volumes over the next 10 years.
He added the authorities would concurrently commence work on the second phase of expansion, based on demand.
German firm replaces Bechtel
Kuwait: German construction giant Philipp Holzmann has replaced the US' Bechtel in the joint venture carrying out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) package on the Sulaibiya wastewater treatment project.
Bechtel is understood to have withdrawn from the joint venture due to risk management factors. The shareholding in the Utilities Development Company (UDC), which is implementing the estimated $390 million build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme, remains unchanged with the local Kharafi National holding a 75 per cent stake and the US' Ionics the remaining 25 per cent.
The other members of the EPC joint venture are the local Mohamed Abdulmohsin Kharafi & Sons, Ionics and the UK's United Utilities.
The project covers the construction of a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of at least 300,000 cu m a day along with a reverse osmosis unit.
Infrastructure gets $1.25bn
Abu Dhabi: The UAE's Ministry of Public Works and Housing has been allocated a Dh4.6 billion ($1.25 billion) budget for executing infrastructure projects this year.
The projects will also include those of other UAE ministries. The Public Works Ministry has decided to spend Dh752.4 million out of the Dh4.6 billion, according to a highly-placed official.
The remaining amount will be added to the budget for 2003, said Ibrahim Abdul Malik Mohammed, assistant undersecretary for finance and administration at the ministry.
The projects will be undertaken for the ministries of Interior (Dh207,972); Justice and Islamic Affairs and Awqaf (Dh95,950); Finance and Industry (Dh63,000); Information and Culture (Dh33,812); Education and Youth (Dh744,304); Health (Dh239,300); Public Works and Housing (Dh1,482,100); Communications (Dh1,702, 240); and Labour and Social Affairs (Dh35,300).
Go-ahead for drainage projects
Dubai: Dubai has approved two drainage projects worth Dh151 million ($41 million).
The projects include the construction and maintenance of main pumping station 'K' in Rashidiya at a cost of Dh81 million. This contract has been awarded to a local contracting company with a contract period of 730 days, said municipality director-general Qassim Sultan said.
The second project is for the third phase of the main pumping station 'Q' at a cost of Dh70 million. It calls for setting up a piped sewerage and stormwater drainage system in Al Qusais 3 and Al Towar 3.
