To open the way for international companies to enter the road maintenance market through direct contracting Minister of Works and Minister of Electricity and Water Dr. Amani Bouqmaz is expected to meet this week representatives from seven embassies in Kuwait including the United States of America, South Korea, France, Turkey, Japan, China and Germany.
The sources told Al-Qabas daily that this step is being taken in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The representatives of these companies will be made aware of what Kuwait expects from them in terms of roads repairs and maintenance and only companies with great experience will be considered for direct contracting according to specific criteria that are currently being studied with the regulatory authorities in the country.
The minister clarified that at the forefront of these criteria is that these companies must have pioneering experience in the field of roads, and must have implemented giant projects with the governments of their countries, and that no precedent of delay or poor implementation related to road projects has been recorded against them.
The sources added that the ministry will also request the nomination of international consulting offices to work with these companies during the next stage, noting that bilateral agreements may be signed between Kuwait and those countries in the field of road repair and maintenance to ensure the best means of implementation and efficiency.
With regard to the situation with local companies, the sources said that some of the local companies are already international companies in the field of roads, and this type of company will also be used, and that the exclusion will be for companies that do not have global experience, as well as those against which violations were recorded in previous contracts. The performance indicator over the past five years will be the evaluation criterion adopted for these companies to determine their quality.
On the other hand, the sources revealed that Minister Bouqmaz inspected Thursday the new Kuwait airport project and was briefed on the progress, noting that the completion rate of the project is close to 67%, and that the minister stressed during her tour the need to work to accelerate the pace of completion and avoid delays in the project.
The sources stated that the new airport building is one of the projects of the development plan that serves the vision of Kuwait 2035, and it receives great attention from the minister and all state agencies, and therefore there is great keenness to complete it and benefit from it as soon as possible, according to the contractual plans and the vision set in advance.
