Construction of airport terminal on schedule
Jaber Causeway to be completed by 2018
Construction of a new terminal at the airport is proceeding according to schedule since work started in early December, Minister of Public Works Abdulrahman Al-Mutawa said yesterday. The minister, during an inspection tour at the site, indicated that more time might be needed to thrash out some problems such as the presence of civil and military installations at the location. “Such hurdles will be tackled through coordination with the relevant authorities,” he said. A special supervision panel will be established, he said, indicating that more hurdles might emerge during the execution. However, the minister reaffirmed his keenness on completing the mega project on time.
Meanwhile, Ghaleb Shlash, the ministry’s undersecretary for con- struction projects, said the project is set to be executed in six years, according to the contract. Faisal Al-Ostath, the chief engineer of the project, said construction of the passenger terminal will make the facility one of the largest airports in the world. The KD 1.3 billion project was signed with Turkish construction company Limak on May 2, 2016.
Separately, the construction of the Sheikh Jaber AlAhmad Al-Sabah Causeway is proceeding according to its preset timeframe and will be completed by 2018, an official at the Ministry of Public Works said yesterday.
Assistant undersecretary for road engineering Ahmad Al-Hassan told the press that 71 percent of the Subiyah link has been completed - where the main causeway crosses Kuwait Bay linking the Shuwaikh Port area on the south side of the bay to the Subiyah new town area to the north. The causeway’s total length is 36.14 km, and that the total cost of the project is KD 738.75 million. Hassan added 51 percent of the Doha link has also been completed, which crosses the south of Kuwait Bay linking Shuwaikh Port with Doha motorway.
The ministry of public works, the owner of the project, always conducts inspection visits to follow up on the progression of the work plan, he pointed out. In cooperation with the Environment Public Authority, periodical reports are being written on any environmental impacts of the causeway - reports have been shown no negative effect on marine and land environment, Hassan said.
The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway is one of the largest infrastructure projects to be constructed in the GCC region. The causeway project provides new strategic highway routes to facilitate planned development to the north of Kuwait City. It reduces distance between Kuwait City and Subiyah from 104 km to 36 km, decreasing the journey time from 90 minutes to less than 30 minutes.— KUNA