Mafraq-Ghweifat highway contract delayed
Abu Dhabi officials delay first transport-related PPP project for further evaluation
Naming of a preferred bidder for a major road planned to link the UAE and Saudi Arabia has been delayed.
The US $2.7 billion Mafraq-Ghweifat highway project is the first transport-related PPP project in the region. Officials in Abu Dhabi were due to name the preferred bidders in quarter three 2010, but announced the delay this week. They now hope to name the bidders “by the end of the year,” according to Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport chairman Abdulla Rashid al-Otaiba.
"It is still under evaluation for the benefit of the parties," added Al-Otaiba.
The tenders for a 25-year concession include operation and maintenance of the 327km highway. To date consortiums led by Australia’s Macquarie Group, Austrian builder Strabag and China Communications Construction Co have been named.
