Bahrain has awarded a total of 15 contracts worth BD143.4 million ($378 million) in January this year, of which three will cover the roads sector, seven the sanitary segmentr and two covering the construction sector.

In addition, bids had been invited for five tenders worth a total of BD7.32 million in January as well, with two each for the roads and the construction and maintenance sector besides a tender for the sanitary sector, said a statement from Ministry of Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning.

The awarded tenders included seven projects for the sanitary sector, all of which targeted Tubli Sewage Treatment Plant; including the expansion of the plant (Phase Four), revamping the concrete facilities, the consultancy services for supervising the expansion works (Phase Four), the maintenance works at the Tubli Sludge Drying Centre C1, the Sludge Drying Factory for the maintenance of centrifuges C2, provision of labor force for the maintenance and operation of the sludge drying factory C5, complete repair of centrifuges at the sludge drying factory C6 and provision of all related requirements, it stated.

As for the awarded tender in the roads sector, it covered the time contract for the cleaning and maintenance of traffic signals, while the awarded tender in the construction and maintenance sector covered the upgrade of central air-conditioning system of the Lulu Commercial Complex at the Manama Central Market, said Ahmed Al Khayyat, the works affairs undersecretary at the ministry.

The projects for which bids were invited in January included the operation and maintenance of North Sitra Sewage Treatment Plant, the consultancy services for the designing of the Sports City in Sakhir and Phase One of the BD1,612,000 revamp of the entrance to Bahrain International Airport, he stated.

The Cost Engineering Directorate of the Ministry, represented by the Procurement Department, approved 75 purchase requests at the cost of BD192,815, he added.

The ministry also received a number of qualification requests from various sectors, where 16 licences were issued, including 10 renewal requests, two upgrade requests, three new registration requests and a pre-qualification request, revealed Al Khayyat.

Six applications were rejected, while five applications were automatically cancelled due to lack of needed attachments, he added.-TradeArabia News Service