Kuwait’s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) will invite consultants to submit their proposals by 18 August for work on the multi-billion dollar Failaka Island tourism development project.

Firms will be able to start submitting their proposals on 20 June, according to the PTB.

In April, the PTB invited firms to submit expressions of interest by 15 June in the transaction advisory services for the project (MEED 21:4:10).

The winning firm or consortium will assist the PTB in structuring, procuring and negotiating contracts for the Failaka Island scheme.

The PTB is scheduled to select the winning transaction advisor in September 2010.

Kuwait’s Public Works Ministry is planning to transform the 43-square-kilometre island of Failaka, which lies 20 kilometres east of Kuwait City, into a major tourism and leisure resort. This would involve the construction of infrastructure, a waterfront development with chalets, hotels, a new marina and a jetty.

The plans also include building recreational areas and cultural and educational areas.

The PTB hopes to invite contractors to bid for construction work on the project in March 2011.

Kuwait first decided to develop the island in 2003, but progress on the project has been slow. The state audit bureau carried out an investigation into construction contract awards in Kuwait in 2008, which led to the scheme being severely delayed (MEED 29:4:08).