QP plans major housing project
Doha: Qatar Petroleum (QP) has awarded a QR826 million ($227 million) contract to Qatar Real Estate Investment Company (QREIC) for a major housing project at Mesaieed Industrial City, Qatar.

The first phase of the project to be completed by mid-2007 involves the construction of 1,244 housing units for QP and its subsidiaries and will include an international school, kindergarten, a power sub-station, road networks and landscaping.
Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said QP and QREIC have already built contractors’ compounds to accommodate 30,000 people who will be working on several projects in Mesaieed in 2007, such as Qatofina, Q-Chem II, the expansion of Qasco and Qapco.
Meanwhile, QREIC is currently undertaking a separate major expansion project at Al Khor involving 1,600 housing units at the cost of approximately QR800 million to cater for the new industries coming up at Ras Laffan.
Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani, chairman and managing director of QREIC said that the contractors for the first of the project are already on site and that the housing units would cater for employees of industries currently set in Mesaieed.
He added that the second phase of project would involve the construction of additional 1,500 units.
“We are building another city on an approximately 1 million sq m area with all the self-contained facilities that are required for people working in Mesaieed,” he said, adding that this would accommodate a total of six thousand people including families.

Qatar-Bahrain causeway soon
Manama: The foundation stone for the $1.8 billion Bahrain-Qatar Friendship Causeway will be laid at the beginning of next year, Bahrain’s Southern Municipal Council chairman Khalid Shaheen Bu Alainain said.
The Supreme Cooperation Joint Committee has already completed the technical study and decided on the final course of the causeway, he added.

Projects worth $1 trillion in pipeline
Doha: An estimated Dh3.67 trillion ($1 trillion) worth of projects are in the pipeline in the region to keep the project finance sector busy for the next eight to 10 years, a top Qatari official said. Shaikh Mohammad bin Ahmad Al Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Economy and Commerce, told delegates at the recent Meed Project Finance conference, that the scale of projects to be undertaken in Qatar, would amount to over $130 billion in the next 10 years. They encompass the development of infrastructure needed to exploit natural gas and to invest in water and power projects, airports, hospitals, free zones, sports complexes, hotels, roads and educational institutions.

ISS to develop school at Riffa Views
Manama: Riffa Views, a 900-villa property development at Riffa Golf Club, Bahrain, has secured a deal with US-based International Schools Services (ISS) – a leading provider of high quality educational services worldwide – to develop a world-class 800-student school within the Riffa Views development.
This academy will add to the wide range of facilities that distinguish the Riffa Views community, which include a country club, retail outlets, mosques and a planned new 18-hole PGA championship golf course.
The project is set for completion in late 2008.

OWSC to float sewage network tenders
Muscat: Oman Wastewater Services Company (OWSC) has announced plans to float tenders worth more than RO100 million ($260 million) for the second phase of a sewage network, in Oman.
Omar Al Wohaibi, OWSC general manager, said the tenders are for building a sewage treatment plant, a 25 km trunk line and a drainage basin near Muscat.
“Tenders for pre-qualifying companies will be floated by this month (April), and actual tenders will be floated by the middle of the year,” said Al Wohaibi.
The project would be awarded by the end of this year and construction is expected to start by early next year until the end of 2010.

Conexpo to feature Chinese giants
Beijing: The largest Chinese construction equipment manufacturers are among the exhibitors at Conexpo Asia 2006, which is to be held at the China National Agricultural Exhibition Centre in Beijing, China, next month (May 15 to 18).
Conexpo Asia 2006 will feature the top two Chinese equipment manufacturing companies – the Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group and Guangxi Liugong – who will also have representatives serving on the management committee. The move is said to help a better planning of the exhibition and ensure it meets industry attendee and exhibitor needs, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), the organiser of the show.
Other major Chinese manufacturers such as Foton Heavy Machinery, Shaanxi Construction Machinery and Zoomlion, along with leading North American and European manufacturers, will also be showcasing their products at the exhibition, which is co-located with World of Concrete Asia 2006.

World of Asphalt sets new records
Orlando: The recently-concluded World of Asphalt 2006 Show and Conference set attendance and exhibit space records at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, US.
More than 4,145 asphalt, highway and maintenance industry professionals attended the conference, which recorded a 26 per cent increase compared to last year, according to the organisers.
A record 68,800-plus sq ft of space used by 221 exhibitors to showcase the latest equipment, product innovations and services to enhance job performance, was also a 26 per cent increase in the amount of space taken at last year’s show.
“Attendees found all they needed to keep up to speed on what’s happening in the asphalt industry today – from the latest equipment on the show floor to the latest trends discussed in the education sessions and live equipment demonstration event,” noted World of Asphalt 2006 chairman R Wayne Evans.

Hotel Show to chart Mideast success
Dubai: The Hotel Show, organised by dmg world media Dubai will support the DEPA Middle East Hotel Awards 2006 – an event that will mark the developments and achievements of the region’s hotel industry.
Due to take place in Dubai, at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel on May 3, the awards ceremony has attracted entries from more than 200 four and five-star hotels in the region, says a spokesman for the organiser.
An independent panel of international judges will short-list the nominations under each category and the winner will be announced on the awards’ gala dinner. With 15 award categories, competition will be intense, especially for the best new hotel, best hotel design project and for the ‘Middle East Hotel of the Year’, he said.