Kuwait’s Public Works Minister Hossam al-Roumi has asked the Central Authority for Public Tenders (CAPT) to cancel five road contracts, according to a local media report on 12 June.

Al-Roumi did not provide specific reasons for cancelling the tenders.

The cancelled schemes are:

• Central section of regional road south (RA/242)
• Northern regional road from Al-Mutlaa Future city to future crossroads (RA/243)
• Damascus Street, 5^th Ring Road and King Faisal Abdulaziz road (RA/257)
• Northern regional road from crossroad No. 58 to 82 (RA/260)
• Northern regional road from crossroad No. 58 to Salmi border check post (RA/261)

CAPT completed its evaluation of the bids for each of the five projects between 2017-18.

Local firm Combined Group Contracting submitted the lowest bids for both RA/242 and RA/257, while a joint venture of Italy’s Itinera and local Yousef Yahya Almatrouk submitted the lowest bid for RA/243.

A joint venture of local contracting firms Abraaj Energy and Al-Ayuni Contracting submitted the lowest bids, at KD73.8m and KD91.5m, for RA/260 and RA/261, respectively.

MEED reported in April that Kuwait put several road projects on hold in line with the ongoing review of the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport (Part)’s mandate.

Part was created in 2014 to take over the planning, administration and operations of all land-based transport assets in the country.

It is understood that the Kuwait Parliament’s Budgets and Final Accounts Committee is reviewing Part’s draft budget for the fiscal year 2018-19 due to alleged complications in the functions of the authority, the Interior Ministry, State Ministry for Services Affairs and Kuwait Municipality.

Kuwait began transferring the planning, administration and operations of land-based transportation from the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) and the Communications Ministry (MOC) to Part in 2016-17.

The transfer gained momentum last year when the country’s multibillion dollar metro public-private partnership (PPP) scheme was transferred from the Communications Ministry to Part.