QATAR Railways (Qatar Rail) has awarded four design-and-build contracts worth QR30-billion ($8.34 billion) for Phase One of the Doha Metro project.

SARAYA Bandar Jissah, the company developing Muscat’s newest integrated residential and leisure development, has signed a contract with DSA Architects International for the design of its 106-key boutique hotel.

ALFANAR Construction, a leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company in the region, has been awarded several major contracts worth a total of SR1.5 billion ($400 million) within the first half of this year. The projects include the construction of substations as well as underground cabling works in various parts of Saudi Arabia.

UAE-based construction firm Arabtec Holding said a joint venture between its Saudi unit and Greece’s Terna has been awarded a SR404-million ($110 million) contract to build a hospital and medical centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Construction on the Aldara Hospital and Medical Centre is expected to be completed in early 2015, Arabtec said.

KUWAIT-based leading Islamic property developer Al Zamil International Real Estate Company has begun construction work on its BD13-million ($34 million) new housing project called Durrat Al Areen, following an official ground breaking ceremony.

AROUND 95 per cent of Bahrain’s population is connected to sanitary services as of this year, a high percentage compared to advanced countries, said the Ministry of Works (MoW). This will increase to 100 per cent by 2020, according to the masterplan. Bahrain is working on a number of strategic projects in the sanitary services sector.

SAUDI Butanol Company (SaBuCo) has received the go-ahead to build the first ever butanol plant in the Middle East at an estimated cost of $517 million in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

THIRTY-TWO years after establishing its thermal and acoustic insulation manufacturing facility in Dammam’s First Industrial City, Arabian Fiberglass Insulation Company (Afico) has just commissioned its new state-of-the-art plant in Dammam Second Industrial City.

IN LINE with its diversification plans, Salem Saleh Al-Hareth (SSH) Establishment, a fully Saudi-owned contracting and trading company, has recently installed a fully automatic production line for block making from the China-based Quangong Machinery (QGM).

SAUDI Ceramic Company, a leading manufacturer and supplier of ceramic tiles, sanitary ware and water heaters, has boosted its green credentials with new eco-friendly products and processes which help save water and conserve energy.

CARILLION Alawi has won a contract to construct the exhibition halls, the car-park and the energy centre at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) precinct in the Al Irfan area of Muscat, Oman. The RO78-million ($202 million) deal is for Package Two of the project being developed by Omran, according to the Oman Observer.

A WORLD-class hospital dedicated to cardiac care will be built in Bahrain on an area covering 45,000 sq m in Awali. HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa gave the green light for the project, by approving the blueprint and issuing a directive to invite bids.

Piling works at tower on target THE piling work at the world’s tallest tower, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – being executed by Saudi Bauer Company – is on target, said the Jeddah Economic Company (JEC) at a board briefing headed by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (

EGYPT’S National Authority for Tunnels was to put out a tender for a huge  depot for the Cairo Metro before the end of last month, according to Ehaf Consulting Engineers, which has prepared the tender documents for the project.

DRAKE & Scull International (DSI), in joint venture with Habtoor Leighton Specon, will provide turnkey MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) solutions under a SR522-million ($139 million) deal for a medical city project in Saudi Arabia. The hospital is believed to be the first of its kind in the region to include a proton therapy centre.