Oman floats tender for mammoth fishery harbour project
Investment in the project and infrastructure estimated at $260m
Oman has floated tenders for the construction of its largest fishery harbour project at Duqm on the Sultanate’s Wusta coast, it was reported.
The facility is to be integrated with an Industrial Fisheries Cluster envisaged as part of a large-scale Special Economic Zone under development at Duqm, the Oman Daily Observer reported.
Total investment in the harbour project, as well as support infrastructure underpinning the Industrial Fisheries Cluster, is estimated to be around $260 million. The development of the harbour project, as well as the adjoining Industrial Fisheries Cluster, will be financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The tender announcement by the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD) invites local and international contractors to bid for the construction of marine structures and roads for the harbour. Marine structures include dredging, reclamation, breakwaters, quay walls and concrete floating pontoons with berthing facilities and navigation aids, complete with ancillary works. The closing date is March 8, 2016.
SEZAD has also floated a separate tender calling on consultants to supervise the construction of the harbour.
According to a report from last August by the World Bank, Oman’s government is working on overhauling its fisheries sector, as part of efforts to diversify away from its oil dependence. Although fisheries in the Sultanate are not as productive as they once were, “well-managed fisheries can be a bountiful and renewable resource and contribute to food security of the population, especially the poor,” the organisation said.
