Saudi Arabia is moving ahead with plans to develop its infrastructure by tendering more than $11bn-worth of construction projects for its Interior Ministry.

The ministry is planing to build medical facilities and security compounds, which are believed to be worth an estimated cost of SR45bn ($12bn).

The ministry is currently tendering two medical complex projects worth a total of SR25bn in Riyadh and Jeddah. It has set a submission date of 28 June for contractors to submit prices for the Security Forces Medical Cities in Riyadh and Jeddah. The original submission date was 1 May, but this has been extended to allow contractors more time to work on estimates.

The consultant for the project is the local office of Lebanon’s Dar al-Handasah.

The scope of the work will include construction and fit-out of the medical complexes, which will each have a total built-up area of 1.3 million square metres.

The two medical cities will have the same design and will both include three hospitals and all related medical and residential facilities. The medical facilities will have a total built up area of about 400,000 sq m.

Each complex will also contain academic and clinical centres and a research centre.  The residential villas and apartments will have a total built up area of about 500,000 sq m. The developments are also planned to have office buildings and service stations. The medical complexes will have about 200,000 sq m of car parking.

The Interior Ministry is also currently tendering the estimated SR20bn third phase of its programme to build security compounds at more than 50 locations throughout the kingdom. Contractors have until 12 July to submit bids for the project.

The project is the third contract to be tendered for the programme to build a network of security compounds throughout Saudi Arabia, which will cover the construction, operation and maintenance of 28 different types of facilities.

The facilities will be used to house, educate and train members of Saudi Arabia’s public security, civil defence service, fire service, police force, passports division and special security and investigative forces.

The compounds have been designed to include schools, mosques, theatres, civilian dormitories, military barracks, administration buildings, training facilities and buildings for recreation and entertainment.

The majority of the security premises will be built in and around Riyadh, but facilities will also be built in the provinces of Qassim, Hail, Tabuk, Jeddah, Madinah, Taif, Al-Jouf and on Saudi Arabia’s Northern borders.

The first phase of the programme was awarded to the local Saudi Binladin Group and the contract for the second phase is expected to go to the local Saudi Oger.

The projects are part of Saudi Arabia’s plans to build housing and social infrastructure for its rapidly expanding population over the next five years.

The kingdom’s population has grown by more than 25 per cent over the past decade, from 21.5 million in 2002 to more than 27 million in 2010, and is set to continue growing at a rate of 2 per cent over the next five years. In August 2010, Riyadh approved the ninth five-year development plan (NDP), setting out the government’s intent to spend almost $400bn on developing infrastructure up until 2014.

Most of the NDP’s spending on infrastructure funding is scheduled to be concentrated in the social sectors, in line with Riyadh’s plans to provide suitable housing and expand and improve the quality of education and health services across the country.

In March, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud announced the government would spend $67bn to build 500,000 low-cost houses by 2014 in an effort to meet the required demand and stave off any potential political unrest (MEED 8:4:11).