The Kuwait Oil Company has awarded the last 3 tenders for soil treatment within the Kuwait Environmental Rehabilitation Program (KERP) to 3 companies with a total value of $460 million.
A local Arabic daily said this is seen as the largest environmental rehabilitation project in the world. The contracts are awarded to Al-Sayer Construction Company, with a value of $155 million; Al-Ghanim International, with a value of $153 million and The Contractor Trading Company, with a value of $152 million.
The KOC, according to reliable sources, is awaiting approvals from the Central Agency for Public Tenders, pointing out that the company was able to reduce the value of the three bids to less than the estimated value, which was more than 600 million dollars.
The same sources indicated that the contracts that were awarded and that are being dealt with as part of the environmental treatment program had been subject to delays during the last period, but the new executive management of the company was keen and worked to expedite the awarding of these tenders, which will have many benefits for the environment.
The sources indicated that these contracts come within the framework of completing the program to rehabilitate the soil that was damaged during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, which caused damage to more than 700 wells.
It is one of the biggest disasters of its kind in the world, pointing out that there is no program of this size in the world.
The sources stated that the soil remediation program is not an easy task, because the pollution is large and requires concerted efforts. The sources explained that through the use of companies that have a lot of international experience and new technologies, the KOC will be able to restore the environment to what it was before the invasion.
The sources went on to say, “The challenges are great, but the executive management and the company’s work team are keen to follow up on the latest technology in the world that is capable of dealing with this environmental crisis and finding the best solutions to restore normalcy to the Kuwaiti environment.”
Earlier, the Kuwait Oil Company had worked on awarding 5 major packages, worth more than one billion dollars, to clean up the soil contaminated by the invasion.
The sources said that these projects will provide many environmental benefits, contribute to restoring the land ecosystem, and will provide future development plans, noting that the Soil Rehabilitation Group was keen, during the preparation of contracts, to ensure that they are implemented by contractors specialized in treating soil contaminated as a result of what was committed by the Iraqi invasion — explosion and burning of more than 700 wells.
This is in addition to that the company is keen on the need for a local contribution in the project in order to give the opportunity to develop local expertise.
The United Nations Compensation Commission established the KERP to allow Kuwait to remedy environmental damage from the 1990-1991 Gulf War.
These tenders were put on the market to deal with the KERP claim. The claim related to soil damage, including wet and dry oil lakes, as well as oil-contaminated heaps of soil.
The area includes 114 square kilometers of land contaminated with crude oil, as a result of the destruction of nearly 700 oil wells in Kuwait. The fires had taken nearly a year to bring under control.