Work begins on Yemen dam

Abu Dhabi: Work has begun on the second phase of the $23.9 million Ma'areb Dam project in Yemen.

Saeed Khalfan bin Matar Al Rumaithy, director general of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, said that this phase includes maintenance of the main irrigation channels affected earlier by floods.

It also entails the construction of another 69 km of channels, 36.6 km of paved roads and another 87 km of service roads. Besides these, the second phase also includes construction of 19 km and 7 km banks on the right and left flanks respectively, to protect villages in the area. Work on the second phase is expected to be completed by 2005.

On completion of this phase, irrigation water will be made available to 7,400 hectares of agricultural land. The first phase is providing irrigation water to 1,100 hectares.

Manama: Workers are putting the finishing touches on a two-storey building at Bahrain's Ibn Khuldoon National School, which is expected to be handed over on July 1.

The building will include classrooms, administrative areas, laboratories, a prayer area, a student lounge and a canteen.

"The building is designed to have three storeys," said school president Samir Chammaa, "and we hope to start working on the third storey within a year but that will depend on the funding," he said.

The third storey will include a learning support unit for students with learning difficulties.

The BD360,000 ($95,000) contract for the current phase of the expansion was awarded to Almoayyed Contracting in August last year.

Chammaa earlier said the new building would free up 650 sq m in the school's current secondary school building.

Manama: Al Khaleej Development Company (Tameer), which has bought the Seef Tower in Bahrain's Seef District from the Housing Bank, is planning to build a residential tower by the side of the existing tower.

A study is being conducted to decide what kind of apartments will be made available.

Three local and international design architects are bidding for the project.

The $9.3 million project is a 16-storey building which will have a footprint of 16,000 sq ft. A multi-storey car-park will be built to meet the needs of the tenants.

The new tower will be built through facilities provided by Islamic banks.

Construction work will start next month and will be completed in two years time.

Beirut: Excavation work on the Marina Towers in Beirut, Lebanon, is currently in the final phase and construction works will start soon.

The project, scheduled for completion in 2005, is being built on 7,100 sq m of land with the main tower reaching 150 m in height. It is designed by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates.

A crescent shape has been used in the design of the structure to incorporate the naturally rounded forms of waterfront architecture and provide each of the apartments with dramatic panoramas to the sea, the mountains, the Beirut Central District Park and the Marina.

Linked to the Beirut Western Marina through a private tunnel, residents will benefit from the added convenience of a nearby floating slip that offers instant access to the high sea. It consists of three distinct elements, the Marina Tower, the Marina Garden and the Gardens covering over 2,000 sq m of land. The development manager is Stow SAL of Lebanon.

Kuwait City: Modification and finishing works on the existing Le Meridien Kuwait are being implemented on a fast track by First United General Trading & Contracting.

The 12-storey four-star hotel, located at Qebla area in Kuwait City, consists of 70 deluxe rooms.

The interiors are in the final stages and the project will be completed in July.

Muscat: Omani Minister of Health Dr Ali bin Mohammed bin Moosa has signed agreements worth RO1.16 million ($3.01 million) for the construction of Ibri Health Complex and two new health centres in Seeq and Sapt in the wilayat of Al Kamil Al Wafi and in Awqad in the wilayat of Salalah.

Muscat: The Oman Tender Board has awarded contracts worth RO74.5 million ($193 million) at its meetings last month.

Notable among the new projects are a RO15.9 million deal to construct and repair Nizwamaqshan-Thumrait road (second phase 200 km); construction of a 144 km road to link the Dhahirah region with Sohar Port worth RO9.1 million; a contract worth RO978,000 to design and construct Seeq road in Al Kamil Wal Wafi, Sharqiyah region; a RO396,000 deal to construct a boys' school at Al Wushail in Rustaq; provision of water for Maabela district (RO 4.15 million); construction of X-ray laboratory in Khoula Hospital (RO3.66 million) and phase one of the Omani Academy for Tourism and Hospitality building (RO971,000).

Kuwait City: Kuwait Real-Estate Bank has forecast a record increase in trading in the real estate sector for the rest of the current year. It said commercial construction sectors will see increased investment as a result of the decline in bank interest rates.

The bank, in its recently released annual report, forecast a hike in demand for construction materials. This is expected to increase the prices of these materials and lead to a marked increase on prices of real estate, it said.

Manama: A string of new roundabouts is nearing completion on Bahrain's Budaiya Road. Four out of the five roundabouts have been completed, to help improve traffic flow and safety.

Studies carried out to improve traffic safety on Budaiya Road recommended the construction of five roundabouts and closing of some openings in the central reservation, said a ministry official.

New traffic lights will be installed for pedestrians on the crossroads leading to Bani Jamra village.

A road leading to the entrance of Budaiya Post Office will be built at a cost of BD85,000 ($225,000). Construction work on this project started in June last year and will be completed within the next two months.

Similar road upgrading work is also being executed at the Zallaq Highway and Zaid bin A'maira Highway cross-section by Bahrain Pipes company, at a cost of BD123,000. Construction started in February and will finish at the end of this month.

London: Leading international manufacturer of electricity generating sets, Cummins Power Generation, has completed a demanding installation at the new Traffic Control Centre in Tehran, Iran.

The Traffic Control Centre, which acts to control and track the traffic movement in and around the busy city of Tehran - including switching traffic lights on and off for emergency vehicles when necessary - had a QST30 -G2 genset with a PCC 3100 installed by Cummins' Iranian distributor, Komin Zad Niroo.

This building also hosts Payam Radio, a station that broadcasts traffic updates to the region.

The genset installation serves as 1,000-hour emergency standby power and is now situated two floors below ground level.

The installation took six months to complete and had to be conducted through the night to avoid the daytime rush of people.

Cummins tendered to supply the genset and installation for the Tehran Traffic Control Centre and worked with the Tehran City Council, which carried out all of the construction work.