Kuwaits Central Tenders Committee has delayed the award of the contract for the construction of roads and crossroads at South Al-Mutlaa City.
It is understood that the low bidder, a team comprising Metallurgical Corporation of China and local Ali al-Kharafi & Brothers Construction, has not given the required bank guarantee.
The team offered $314m for the contract, which was tendered last year.
The second lowest bidder for the contract is a joint venture of Turkeys Makyol and local Contec United General Contracting, which offered $361m.
Neither the client, Kuwaits Public Works Ministry, nor the consultant, a team comprising US-based Louis Berger and local Al-Dowailah Engineering, is available to comment on the delayed contract award.
The South Al-Mutlaa city will occupy a 104 square-kilometre area in Kuwaits Jahra governorate, to the west of the capital Kuwait City.
Once completed in 2019, the Al-Mutlaa city will have 30,000 housing units with population projected to reach 400,000. This would comprise about 9 per cent of the states projected population of nearly 4.6 million by 2019, according to IMF estimates.
