Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has invited prequalified groups to bid for the contract to build the new Ahmadi Hospital and surrounding residential buildings.

The 10 prequalified contractors have until 27 July to submit bids for the project, which is to be located in the Ahmadi oil township, which is located about 40 kilometres south of Kuwait City.

The prequalified contractors, all international, are:

• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Consolidated Contractors Company (Athens-based)
• Sinohydro Corporation (China)
• Posco Engineering & Construction Company (South Korea)
• Nurol Construction & Trading Company (Turkey)
• SNC Lavalin (Canada)
• Sembawang Engineers & Contractors (Singapore), Alamiah Building Company (local)  
• Saudi Binladin Group (Saudi Arabia)
• Orascom Construction Industries (Egypt)
• SK Engineering & Construction (South Korea)

KOC originally tendered the contract in 2006, but has decided to retender the project, as the first bids were too high above budget.

The local Kuwait Company for the Process Plant Construction & Contracting (KCPC) was the low bidder when the contract was originally tendered with a price of KD75.6m ($260.7m). The local Mohamed Abdulmoshin Kharafi & Sons submitted the second lowest bid with a price of KD76.7m.

The scope of the project includes the construction, operation and maintenance of the hospital and residential buildings, associated buildings and utilities. The project will have a total built up area of 74,000 square metres.

KOC originally tendered the contract in 2006, but decided to retender as the first bids were too high

The new contract also involves provision and installation the medical equipment, which was not included in scope when the contract was tendered in 2006.

The Ahmadi project is the latest of a number of hospital contracts to have been tendered over the past year in the Middle East.

In November last year, a joint venture of Kuwait Arab Contractors Company and Egypt’s Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Company) was awarded the KD304m ($1.1bn) contract to build Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah Hospital in Surra, a district in Kuwait City (MEED 17:3:09).