Local companies have dominated the bidding for construction deals worth a total of $1.8bn on Kuwait’s Jaber al-Ahmed and Sabah al-Ahmed residential projects.

The deals are part of a wider government initiative to provide homes for the emirate’s growing urban population. The Public Authority for Housing, which tendered the Jaber al-Ahmed and Sabah al-Ahmed deals, is currently developing  19 housing projects in the emirate worth a total of $17bn.

The local Kuwait Company for Process Plant Construction & Contracting (KCPC) is the frontrunner for the contract to build the main residential scheme at Jaber al-Ahmed, located west of Kuwait City, after submitting a bid of KD199m ($689m) in a 2 March competitive bid round.

The contract covers the construction, completion and maintenance of 1,475 homes, public buildings, infrastructure and treatment and improvement of weak soil characteristics. It contract is scheduled for completion in 2013. 

Other bidders included:

• Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi Company
• Consolidated Contractors Company
• Combined Group Contracting Company
• Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Company
• Kuwait Co. For Process Plant Construction & Contracting
• United Gulf Constructions Company
• Mushrif Trading & Contracting Company
• First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting Company
• Alghanim International General Trading & Contracting Company

The local Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading submitted the lowest bid of KD55.6m for another contract, covering the construction, completion and maintenance of 2,600 plots of land, 101 electrical transformer sub-stations and supporting infrastructure at the Jaber al-Ahmed development.

The local Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi Company is the frontrunner to win the main construction deal on the Sabah al-Ahmed project after submitting a low bid of KD134m in a 9 March bid round. Under the contract, the company will develop 60 per cent of the 35 million square-metre site for the project. The deal covers the construction, completion and maintenance of 1,271 homes, electrical sub-stations, supporting infrastructure and schools and mosques. The contract is scheduled for completion in 2013.  

Other bidders on this deal included:

• Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi Company
• Consolidated Contractors Company
• Combined Group Contracting Company
• Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Company
• Kuwait Company for Process Plant Construction & Contracting
• United Gulf Constructions Company
• Mushrif Trading & Contracting Company
• First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting Company
• Alghanim International General Trading & Contracting Company

The local United Gulf Constructions Company is the frontrunner to win a second deal on the project after submitting a bid of KD128m. The contract covers the construction, completion and maintenance of 930 homes, electrical sub-stations, supporting infrastructure and schools and mosques. The contract covers the A4 and A5 sectors of the residential project and is scheduled for completion in 2013.

Other bidders on this deal included:

• Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi Company
• Consolidated Contractors Company
• Combined Group Contracting Company
• Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Company
• Kuwait Co. For Process Plant Construction & Contracting
• United Gulf Constructions Company
• Mushrif Trading & Contracting Company
• First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting Company
• Alghanim International General Trading & Contracting Company

 The housing programme comes in response to Kuwait’s population growth which, at of 2.41 per cent a year, is among the highest in the world.