Bahrain’s Ministry of Housing has invited companies to prequalify for the contract to build the Al-Madina al-Shamaliya sewage treatment plant (STP) and long sea outfall project.

The project is being funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and as a result the prequalification is only open to:

• UAE contractors
• UAE/Bahraini joint ventures
• UAE joint ventures
• Bahraini contractors
• Bahraini joint ventures

Eligible firms have until 9 January 2014 to submit prequalification entries for the project.

The Madina al-Shamaliya project is the second STP that is being planned in Bahrain. Bahrain’s Works Ministry has invited contractors to prequalify for the contract to expand its Tubli sewage treatment plant.

The ministry has set a closing date of 25 December for prequalification entries for the STP expansion project and has restricted prequalification to the following groups:

• Kuwaiti contractors
• Kuwaiti/Bahraini joint ventures
• Kuwaiti/foreign joint ventures or consortiums
• Saudi contractors
• Saudi/Bahraini joint ventures
• Saudi/foreign joint ventures or consortiums

The prequalification restrictions are due to the scheme being funded by the governments of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The Tubli expansion project was originally scheduled to follow the example of the Muharraq wastewater treatment plant, currently being developed by a consortium led by South Korea’s Samsung Engineering, and be procured by a public-private partnership (PPP) model. However, the Works Ministry has re-evaluated the Tubli plans and will now develop the project using a more traditional procurement method.

German firm P2mberlin is the consultant for the Tubli expansion scheme. P2mberlin, together with Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and Dornier Consulting, has provided consulting services for the development of a sewerage masterplan for the whole kingdom of Bahrain.

Expansion of the Tubli plant has been a key priority for the Bahraini government for several years. Tubli is the largest wastewater treatment plant on the island and covers sewage treatment for Bahrain’s capital city, Manama.