Arabtec wins bank HQ job
ARABTEC Construction Company has been awarded a contract to build the Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) group headquarters at Bahrain Bay. The contract was signed by ABG president and chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif, and Arabtec Construction Company chairman Riad Kamal.

“The new headquarters is designed to meet the present and future needs of the group,” said Yousif.

Barwa work ‘on schedule’
WORK on the construction of Barwa Financial District in Doha, Qatar, is on target and is slated to be completed in March 2013, a Barwa official said.

Set to become a premier business hub upon completion, the project is spread on 375,000 sq m of prime land and is situated along the Majlis Al Ta’awon Street which already houses several ministries and organisations.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) earlier said it was considering the purchase of the district in order to use it as a corporate centre for administration, general operations and financial activities.

The project features an outer ring of six office towers ascending in a clockwise direction from 20 to 35 storeys and an inner ring of towers, comprising three office towers and a hotel tower ascending in a counter-clockwise direction from 31 to 50 storeys.

Saudis have the largest gold reserves in the Arab world.

Largest gold factory goes up
SAUDI Arabia is planning to open the world’s largest gold factory in Jeddah by the end of this year.

The factory, spanning an area of 22,000 sq m, is already under construction in Jeddah, said Essam Aziz Sultani Al Ashrafi, CEO of Taiba for Gold and Jewels Company, the firm behind the plan.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest consumers of gold. In June last year, the World Gold Council reported that gold reserves held by the Saudi Arabian central bank more than doubled from 143 tonnes to 322.9 tonnes. The kingdom currently holds the largest reserve of gold in the Arab world, globally ranking 16th ahead of the UK, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Singapore, and Sweden.

Taiba has been in the market for more than 25 years and distributes to over 2,500 stores across the kingdom.

Hospital to buy 93 Kone elevators
KONE will supply 93 elevators for the Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Hospital project in South Surra, Kuwait.

Kone will provide 25 Kone MonoSpace special elevators, and 68 Kone MiniSpace elevators for this project – believed to be the largest medical centre in Kuwait and the Middle East region.

Developed by the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works, the project will provide the highest quality of health care to 600,000 people in the area. The architect for the project is the leading design firm Langdon Wilson International in cooperation with local Kuwait firm Gulf Consult. The main contractor is Arab Contractors.

“Our main objective is to provide innovative solutions and our People Flow expertise in hospital environment to offer patients and visitors smooth ride comfort,” said Eric Maziol, EVP and area director for Kone – West and South Europe and the Middle East.

The new medical development includes a 11-storey hospital, two-storey dental building and a four-storey residential building for nursing staff. The construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2013. The order was booked in Q4 of 2010.

Bahrain-Qatar bridge ‘will be built’
A LONG-PLANNED multi-billion-dollar causeway linking Qatar to Bahrain will be constructed, Bahrain’s foreign minister said, without giving a time-frame for the delayed project. “It is a must for both countries, even without the World Cup,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said.

Qatar has won the bid to host the 2022 football World Cup. The country hopes to spend $100 billion on various infrastructure projects including a railway line to Bahrain running along the causeway.

Go-ahead for $33m water projects
SAUDI Arabian Water and Electricity Ministry has signed contracts worth more than SR123 million ($32.8 million) for water and sanitation projects in the Eastern Province. Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al Hossein signed eight contracts with specialised national companies to execute the projects in various parts of the province.

Work on new Doha port begins
CONSTRUCTION of the port foundation and breakwater for Qatar’s New Doha Port has begun.

International engineering contractor China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has won the $880 million contract that will take approximately four-and-half years to complete. According to CHEC, the project includes construction of a container wharf, general cargo wharf, naval forces wharf, and breakwater, to name a few. The wharf will be a gravity-type block with a waterline of 7,845 m.

Qatar to build $4bn power station
QATAR Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) will invest QR15 billion ($4.1 billion) to build a 12,000 MW power station to meet the increasing energy needs of the country in the next 10 years.

The new power station is expected to be completed within the next two years, according to Hassan Guma Al Mohannadi, the head of the distribution, control and emergency section at Kahramaa.

Bahrain plans $32m storm drain
BAHRAIN is to pump BD12 million ($31.8 million) into a water drainage project in a bid to cope with flash floods. The scheme, set to be launched in the coming months, comes after the first downpour of the year caused chaos across the country. “This project will be implemented in 80 to 90 locations across the country starting with Muharraq,” said Works Ministry director of sanitary engineering operation and maintenance directorate Ebrahim Al Hawaj.

He said the project is expected to be completed by the year-end and would help connect areas that are not part of Bahrain’s existing storm water drainage system.

Alstom wins Iraq metro contract
ALSTOM has signed a contract with Iraq to build a 25-km proposed metro rail line worth IQD705.3 billion ($600 million) through the capital Baghdad.

The French government will bear 50 to 60 per cent of the project cost, while the remainder will be met through a loan from a French government-run bank, said Patrick Kron, the chairman and CEO of Alstom.

The line will begin from the north of Baghdad, through Shaab, Adhamiya, Kadhimiya and Hurriya, to the Alawi zone in central Baghdad, and will ease traffic congestion in the region.The rail line will be complete in about two years.

Waqf undertakes new projects
THE Sunni Waqf Directorate (SWD) is seeking bids for the construction of several projects in Bahrain.

The projects to be undertaken in the first phase are located in Zinj  (‘Zinj One’ and ‘Zinj Two’), Saar and Manama and are aimed at meeting market demand for high and middle-income housing units. They include:

• The Al Hedaya Commercial Centre in central Manama, which will comprise 12 shops on the ground floor and four floors with 23 apartments, with a total built-up area of 2,755 sq m, and to be completed in 12 months;

• A residential compound at Saar comprising 11 villas, seven with five bedrooms and four with three bedrooms, comprising a built-up area of 3,589 sq m, to be completed in 12 months; and

• Four residential buildings at Zinj One, each comprising a ground and three floors, and together offering a total of 99 units, tendered as one package and scheduled for completion in 18 months.