Metito Social Project of the Year Award National Winners Announced

TDIC's Saadiyat Construction Village in Abu Dhabi benefits 20,000 workers

Barwa Village contributes $318 million to Qatar's GDP

Dubai, UAE; 16 April 2012 - The MEED Quality Awards for Projects 2012, the only awards programme in the GCC to recognise completed quality projects, has shortlisted two major projects from across the region for the Metito GCC Social Project of the Year honours.

"We have developed a stringent set of criteria for recognising project quality, which involves not only design and engineering excellence, but socio-economic and environmental impact. We have a dedicated category focusing on social impact because we believe that that size and magnitude of the projects being implemented in the region should have an impact on the projects' stakeholders - not just the owners and the contractors, but also their workers and the community at large," said Edmund O'Sullivan, chairman of the judging panel of the MEED Quality Awards for Projects (MQAP).

Tourism Development & Investment Company's $260 million Saadiyat Construction Village, which was built to house 20,000 workers employed by contractors during the construction phase of Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island development, has been cited for being the first of its kind in the UAE and for leading the way in sustainable design and world-class accommodation for facilities of this scale. Nominated by HLG Leighton Contracting, the Saadiyat Construction Village has also been declared as one of the UAE National Winners of this year's edition of the Meed Quality Awards for Projects..

Barwa Village, a MEED Quality Awards for Projects National Winner in Qatar, is also competing for the Metito GCC Social Project of the Year award. Barwa Real Estate's $450 million integrated master-planned community is estimated to have contributed QR 1.18 billion ($318 million) to Qatar's GDP when it was completed in 2010, providing avenues for economic diversification with a focus on downstream real estate businesses.

The GCC Social Project of the Year Award is being presented in partnership with Metito, the leading provider of total intelligent water management solutions in emerging markets. Bassem Halabi, Group Business Development Director - Metito Overseas Ltd said, "As industry leaders we believe in the triple bottom line approach; people, environment and profit, which is key to providing services and solutions that can stand the test of time and that can benefit  humanity for generations to come. We are therefore honoured to acknowledge peer organisations that play their part as well towards their societies by effectively utilising their knowhow and resources to execute such sustainable projects.  This award acknowledges the initiative that contributes the most to the development of a society through a well designed and implemented project that successfully tackles the key elements of budding economies; Education, healthcare, community and culture."

Besides the Metito GCC Social Project of the Year, the other categories being contested in the MEED Quality Awards for Projects 2012 are GCC HLG Leighton Contracting Oil & Gas Project of the Year, GCC Industrial Project of the Year, GCC Power and Water Desalination Project of the Year, GCC Water Reuse Project of the Year, GCC Leisure and Tourism Project of the Year, GCC Transport Project

of the Year, Emirates Steel Building GCC Project of the Year and KIMMCO GCC Sustainable Project of the Year. Winners will be announced on 21 May 2012 at The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa, UAE.

In addition to sponsors Metito, KIMMCO, Cadillac, HLG Leighton Contracting and Emirates Steel, the MEED Quality Awards for Projects 2012 is endorsed by the Society of Engineers in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE.

For more information on attending the awards, please visit www.meedawards.com.

About MEED Quality Awards for Projects 2012
For a second year, MEED, the leading supplier of business intelligence in the Middle East, will celebrate the amazing success of the projects sector in the GCC at the MEED Quality Awards for Projects 2012. The awards aim to raise standards through benchmarking best practice specified in the project brief and excellence provided in the project delivery. Winning an award will send a message to the market that quality is essential in all parts of the project management process; from design planning to engineering and construction. The 5 criteria are economic impacts, environmental considerations, engineering, design and construction challenges

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© Press Release 2012