Gulf Construction Online

Regional News

Update

01 October 2014

Attiya Motors opens workshop

ATTIYA Motors and Trading Company (AMTC), the exclusive importer of Renault Trucks in Qatar, has opened a new custom-built and state-of-the-art workshop in Doha.

Built at a cost of QR24 million ($6.59 million), the workshop is part of the Phase One development of an ambitious service plan, while adjacent buildings will be put to use in the future.

The new workshop is located just off the main highway in the Doha Industrial Area, providing easy access for regular servicing and maintenance. Additionally, a new Midlum truck mobile workshop has been put into operation to support the services.

Workers need 1m more beds

AS MANY AS one million additional beds would be required to accommodate the inflow of new workers into the country and existing labour accommodation should be upgraded to adhere to the strict guidelines of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), said a study published in the Gulf Times.

“There has been a surge in demand for additional labour camps in Qatar owing to strict implementation of global norms in housing workers on project sites,” the valuation and research department of Al Asmakh Real Estate Development Company (AREDC) said in the report.

At present, numerous labour camps are at various stages of construction, which on completion can accommodate nearly 100,000 new labourers.

Eversendai wins Qatar contract

EVERSENDAI Corporation, one of the leading integrated structural steel turnkey contractors in Malaysia, said its Qatar unit has won a $35.7-million contract to renovate the Khalifa Olympic Stadium.

The Malaysian company said it has secured a contract to work on the arena that was originally built in 1976 and was upgraded in 2004 for the Asian Games in Qatar, reported the Malaysian daily The Star.

As per the deal, Eversendai will be responsible for the total renovation comprising re-engineering and dismantling of the existing lighting arch and ancillary steel structures, engineering, supply and fabrication.

Al Shamal road work on schedule

ABOUT 70 per cent of flyover and underpasses work at Al Shamal in Doha, Qatar, has been completed, The Peninsula said in a report.

The construction companies implementing the development project said it will be completed by the middle of next year. The flyovers’ bases are in place and asphalting of the roads has begun, the report said.

The construction of service roads vital to Al Shamal Road, which is used by heavy trucks, has also started. The project includes building service points and petrol stations on both sides of the road.

628 hotel projects on cards for region

AS MANY as 628 hotel projects are currently under contract in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and together they will add 147,454 rooms into the booming hospitality sector, said a report.

The ‘under contract’ data includes projects in the “construction, final planning and planning” stages but does not include projects in the unconfirmed stage, stated leading research group STR Global in its Construction Pipeline Report for August.

Among the key markets in the region, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will register over 115.7 per cent growth if all 7,396 rooms under contract open. Other markets expecting over 50 per cent growth include Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (over 113 per cent with 10,095 rooms) and Doha, Qatar (over 79.7 per cent with 10,828 rooms).

Bids invited for airport project

BAHRAIN’S Ministry of Transport has invited contractors to prequalify for the main construction works for the modernisation of Bahrain International Airport. The scope of works comprises the construction of a new passenger terminal, and other buildings including all general civil engineering, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works, aircraft parking, car-parks, interiors, and exterior and other related works.

The contractor will be responsible for managing the nominated subcontractor in charge of the baggage handling system, passenger loading bridges and information communication technology.

Msheireb hotel completion delayed

THE opening date for a luxury hotel scheduled to open in Msheireb this year has been pushed back two years – the latest signal that Qatar’s massive QR20-billion ($5.5 billion) urban redevelopment project is slipping behind schedule.

The Mandarin Oriental is a high-end, 158-room hotel with 91 serviced apartments and is one of three hospitality projects under construction on the 31-hectare site in central Doha. A spokesperson for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group told Doha News that the project, first announced in 2010, is now not scheduled for completion until 2016. As the operator of the hotel, the spokesperson said her company was not involved in the actual construction of the project.

Oman awards $86m road contracts

OMAN’S Tender Board has awarded contracts for two road projects worth a total of RO33.29 million ($86.4 million).

These include a contract valued at RO25.12 million ($65.22 million) for the construction of roads and site levelling work at a new residential area in the wilayat of Liwa in north Al Batinah and another worth RO8.16 million ($21.18 million) for the construction of the Al Hoqain-Mili Road in the wilayat of A’Rustaq in south Al Batinah.

$5.71bn fund for water projects

OMAN’S Haya Water is planning to invest an average of RO100 million ($260 million) each year on various projects in the next decade, including the construction of sewage network, sea fallout system and sewage treatment plants, a senior official at the company said.

A budget of around RO2.2 billion ($5.71 billion) had been envisaged for the implementation of projects between 2002 and 2025, Said Rashid Al Asmi, projects general manager at Haya Water, told the Times of Oman.

Among the sea outfall projects undertaken by Haya, the one in Seeb is close to completion. Phase One of the project in Ansab has been finished, with work under way on Phase Two. The Darsait project is under construction. “All these projects will be completed in two or three years from now,” he said.

Commenting on the projects in the tendering process, Al Asmi said: “We are designing Seeb Phase Two STP (sewage treatment plant) and evaluating the Ansab and Al Misfah STP. The network for Seeb areas is under evaluation, and we have also initiated studies for Phase Three of the project for Seeb area.”

Qatar vows to hold World Cup

QATAR, which has earmarked up to $200 billion to develop its transport and tourism and sports infrastructure in the run-up to the Fifa World Cup 2022, reiterated it would host the event despite a Fifa official suggesting recently that the tournament would have to move because of scorching temperatures.

Theo Zwanziger, the former German football association (DFB) chief who now sits on the executive committee of world soccer’s governing body, had said that he felt the tournament would have to be held elsewhere.

“The only question now is when, not if,” Qatar 2022 communications director Nasser Al Khater said in reply to his comments. “Summer or winter, we will be ready.”

Work is well under way on key projects including the football stadiums and metro, and a turnaround from Fifa could potentially derail this construction boom.

Mercury Mena wins Qatar deal

BAHRAIN-BASED Mercury Mena, an engineering specialist solutions provider, has been awarded a contract for complete mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works for a major healthcare project in Qatar.

The Workers Hospital and Integrated Health Centre project in Mesaieed comprises a 120-bed hospital, an integrated health centre, a mosque and a utility plant.

Mercury Mena’s contract includes plumbing and drainage, electrical works, extra low-voltage installations, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning works, life safety works, medical gas installations and pneumatic tube systems with provision for future expansion of up to 200 beds and related clinical area. The main project contractor is Contraco Trading and Contracting.

Aldes names international head

ALDES Middle East (ME), a leading global solutions provider for fire protection, ventilation and air distribution, has appointed Ahmed Saleh as managing director for its international operations.

The appointment, which aims at consolidating the company’s position as a key provider of fire protection, ventilation and air distribution products across the GCC region, follows the recent opening of subsidiary offices in Doha, Qatar. Saleh, who will head Aldes’ international division, brings over 18 years of experience mainly in the safety and security industry.

Saleh expects to launch new initiatives revolving around increasing customer satisfaction and retention, enhancing quality and maintaining competitive pricing.

Hewitt to hold claims course

UAE-BASED Hewitt Construction Consultancy, a company specialising in construction contractual matters, construction claims and training, will return to Bahrain to deliver a two-day construction claims course next month.

The Construction Claims Intensive Training Course to be conducted on November 5 and 6 is designed to provide those representing contractors and clients with the knowledge to manage, prepare, present and respond to construction claims in an effective and professional manner. The course developer and leading presenter, Andy Hewitt, who is the principal of Hewitt Construction Consultancy, said: “Since the launch of the claims class, we have had many positive responses and received excellent feedback when it was presented in Bahrain last year.”

Mideast investors in global spend

MIDDLE Eastern investors are set to spend $180 billion in global commercial real estate markets in the next 10 years, according to leading real estate consulting firm CBRE’s recent report.

The ‘Middle East: In and Out’ report found that a major increase in flows of Middle Eastern capital into global markets is emerging from the extraordinary mismatch between the lack of institutional real estate in domestic markets and the huge spending power concentrated in the region.

The report was released at the Global Investment Summit 2014 which was hosted by CBRE in association with Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), in Dubai, UAE, last month.

Nick Maclean, managing director for CBRE Middle East, said: “Since the global financial crisis, SWFs (sovereign wealth funds) from the Middle East have become one of the most significant sources of capital in the global real estate landscape. The demand from these institutions has evolved during the last few years into a sophisticated source of liquidity for many of the mature real estate markets around the world.”