City update: Manama in Bahrain

Bahrain Financial Harbour taken from Government Avenue city center, Manama City, Bahrain.

In recent months it seemed that the Bahrain capital of Manama had been slowed down by the crisis. In April it was revealed that the tender for the main construction contract for Raffles City, part of the US $2.5 billion (BHD942 million) Bahrain Bay project, would be delayed in light of current economic challenges according to a statement from Singaporean developer Capitaland.

The statement, which was listed on Singapore’s stock exchange, said that Capitaland and shareholders in the Raffles City Bahrain fund are evaluating options for the projects and looking to capitalise on cheaper costs. The first phase of the project - construction of an underground carpark and basement, which Nass Murray and Roberts joint venture started on in July, is scheduled to finish by the middle of this year.

A far as infrastructure goes, Bahrain’s $7.9 billion monorail network could be years away from construction according to the project’s client, Ministry of Works. But, like any region, there is still progression and many projects are moving along
as planned.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Developing a better bus system that will get people to and from any other system is much more important than just a monorail.   2 Comments Read more comments »

The a raft of ongoing projects in the capital include a proposal for the world’s tallest building, various infrastructure projects and multi-million dollar developments in the Bahrain Financial Harbour- a large scale commercial development under
construction. But what stage are these developments at and how long will they take to complete?

Highway Projects
Bahrain Ministry of Works has recently issued the tender for the North Manama Causeway and the decision as to whom the contract will be awarded to is currently in the negotiation stage. A team of Belgium’s Six Construct and Bahrain’s local Haji Hassan has submitted the lowest bid of $260 million or the main construction contract.

Other bidders were South Korea’s Sungwon Corporation, which bid $316.6 million and the local Hafeera Group at $310. Malaysia’s Gamuda submitted two offers , which were  $336.8 million and $374 million.

The three-year contract involves the construction of a 2.4km-long causeway on reclaimed land, which will link Muharraq with North Manama and wind through Bahrain Bay and Bahrain Financial Harbour; upgrades of junctions on the King Faisal highway; 1.6km of road upgrades; a single span 51m-long bridge crossing a canal and a flyover running alongside Bahrain Bay development. The consultant is UK-based Hyder Consulting. 

Meanwhile, tenders for only another two or three other major road projects will be awarded this year according to the Ministry of Works minister Fahmi Al Jowder. The main focus has now been shifted to large road projects already underway in Bahrain such as the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway.