News in brief
01 April 2015
Al Futtaim wins $588m projects
Al Futtaim Carillion (AFC) has been awarded two contracts worth a total of £380 million ($588.5 million) for projects being developed in the UAE by Dubai-based Meraas Holding.
“The company has won a £225-million ($336 million) contract to build a mixed-use development on the Dubai Creek waterfront. The project includes retail, hotels, a mosque, museums, workshops and a market,” says a company spokesman.
The second £155-million ($231 million) deal is to build ‘La Mer’ at Jumeirah in Dubai. The project involves the construction of a combination of retail and public facilities, together with substantial external landscaping to create over 1 km of beach-themed frontage.
Carillion chief executive Richard Howson says: “We are delighted to have been selected as the preferred bidder for these two major contracts. This reflects our reputation for high-quality and reliability and we look forward to working with Meraas to deliver these prestigious projects.”
AFC is a joint venture between Carillion, a leading UK-based integrated support services company, and Dubai’s Al Futtaim.
Shapoorji to build colleges
Construction major Shapoorji Pallonji has won a $525-million contract to build, operate and maintain the colleges of social science, law and Shariah and Islamic studies, as well as the prayer areas and a faculty club for Kuwait University in Kuwait.
Work will take 42 months to complete.
The company is already present in the Kuwaiti market, having won the design-build contract with supply, installation and maintenance of medical procurement for the $635 million Al Sabah Hospital. Providing 617 beds, the project is currently in its design phase and is expected to be completed in 48 months in total.
Shapoorji Pallonji, headquartered between Mumbai, India and Dubai, UAE, employs over 30,000 staff with offices in 25 countries worldwide.
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Al Tabari ... optimistic. |
Ready to roll
Drake & Scull Rail (DSR) has expressed optimism about its prospects of securing contracts on major rail and urban transport projects under way in the region, given its experience in the global market and the fact that it has refined its manpower and technologies.
Speaking on the sidelines of the company’s participation at the 2015 Middle East Rail Summit held last month in Dubai, UAE, Khaldoun Al Tabari, CEO and vice-chairman of Drake & Scull International (DSI), expressed his confidence in DSR’s potential growth for the industry in 2015.
Al Tabari says DSR has made significant progress and is tendering for many of the high-profile rail projects in the GCC.
“We have entered into strategic partnerships with leading rail experts from around the world on several of these tenders, and are very confident about securing a major portion of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works on some of these projects,” he adds.
He says that DSR’s work on the Dubai Airport Passenger Movement Rail, along with its rich experience in the development of rail networks, depot, tunnels and stations proves the company’s strong engineering foundation, and its familiarity with the region’s safety standards.
CHEC seals Falcon Island deal
China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), an engineering contractor and a subsidiary of CCCC, has been awarded a $40.8-million marine and infrastructure works contract by the UAE-based Al Hamra Real Estate for its Falcon Island project in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
Designed to house the first Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified real estate of its kind in the Gulf, Falcon Island will feature 150 villas and mansions, complete with European architecture and interiors, says the developer.
Falcon Island will offer a wide variety of luxury homes ranging from five-bedroom villas to eight-bedroom mansions. It will be totally powered by innovative solar technologies, feature hybrid district cooling systems.
A central canal, described by Al Hamra Real Estate general manager Benoy Kurien as a ‘little piece of Venice in the Middle East’, will split the island in two, and is one of a number of the natural island’s signature features that will be developed as part of the marine and infrastructure contract, the property developer says.
Li Guowei, the general manager of China Harbour Engineering Company, says: “Through these developments we’ve demonstrated our ability to work to the highest standards and specifications, and we are delighted to be taking charge of the marine and infrastructure works at Falcon Island.”
