*Local companies get QR1.3bn Ashghal contracts in the past 20 months
Aligned with Qatar's efforts to support private sector growth, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has provided more than QR1.8bn worth of contracts to local companies in the past 18 to 20 months, according to an Ashghal official, who said the authority will be investing more than QR45bn in projects in the next five years.
Engineer Ahmed Ali al-Ansari, technical office manager at Ashghal, made the statement on Monday during the announcement of Qatar Development Bank’s ‘Government Procurement & Contracting Conference & Exhibition’ (Moushtarayat 2019) slated from March 31 to April 2 in Doha.
He said ‘Moushtarayat 2019,’ now on its fourth edition, is a chance for local industries and companies, suppliers, contractors, and manufacturers to identify the business opportunities available in the market.
During the event, al-Ansari said, Ashghal will announce all the details needed to guide businesses that are interested in participating in many of Ashghal’s projects, and to assist them in how to engage with the authority.
“Our projects include building, infrastructure, construction, roads, drainages, and highways. We are also into asset management, which forms a major part of our operation, so we are looking for contractors for maintenance of our operations. We are looking for main contractors as well to get involved in future projects, but definitely we are looking for local players to participate in those opportunities,” al-Ansari told reporters on the sidelines of the press conference.
Al-Ansari said Ashghal will be spending QR45bn in the next five years, covering projects in various sectors, primarily roads and drainage systems inside and outside Doha.
Of the QR45bn, al-Ansari said a minimum of 30% should go to local companies. “But based from our experience, around 50% to 60% of projects go to national companies,” he noted.
“For the expressway programme, we have about QR18bn to spend in the next five years and about QR25bn for local roads also for the same period. Likewise, we have allotted another QR10bn for the drainage networks,” al-Ansari told Gulf Times.
In the last five to seven years, al-Ansari said, Ashghal has completed 400km worth of highways out of 550km. The authority will be investing QR18bn for the remaining highways, which will be implemented in the next two to three years, he continued.
Other accomplishments include 85 of 130 major intersections, 100 out of 160 bridges and tunnels, 245km out of 600km of footpaths, 245km out of 600km bicycle tracks, 6,700km worth of roads and 3,400km of sewage networks that would serve 182,000 plots of land across Qatar.
He also said Qatar’s sewage network has reached 5,100km, adding that Ashghal aims to complete the remainder of the programme in the next three years, including the establishment of a new sewage treatment plant in partnership with the private sector.
Al-Ansari also said Ashghal has completed many projects related to infrastructure and health, mosques and parks, and has allocated around QR7bn over the next three years for new buildings and other projects.
