KUWAIT CITY, March 18: The Ministry of Public Works said it is in the process of addressing the Council of Ministers to cancel 7 tenders for major road projects belonging to the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport, after 5 years of the formation of the authority to study the companies qualified to implement these projects which indicated that there were shortcomings in the procedures for qualifying contractors, whose recommendations were submitted at that time to the Council of Ministers, reports Al-Rai daily.

The sources said, “The ministry had previously asked the Central Agency for Public Tenders to cancel floating these tenders, but the agency indicated that it was not competent to cancel the tenders.

Speedy
The sources stated that the PART board of directors had previously recommended the speedy completion of the cancellation of these tenders, in preparation for their re-offering, in implementation with the Cabinet’s decision regarding commitment to calculating the bases and standards of the estimated cost, according to the CAPT circular, and the commitment to proposing projects according to priorities, according to the government’s direction to rationalize spending and simplifying project components, construction, and ensuring the proper management of directing expenditures and implementing projects, in accordance with the government’s work program and the requirements of development lines, coinciding with the implementation of housing projects in various regions of the country.

In a related context, the sources stated that the preliminary studies on the cost of the projects included in the road budget during the next five years from 2023 to 2028 resulted in the government saving more than one billion dinars. The sources indicated that there is a tendency to cancel the draft budget for road projects in the Public Authority for Roads and Land Transport for the fiscal year 2023-2024 and to return those projects to the Ministry of Works. The sources explained that “this approach is expected to be discussed by the Ministry of Finance with representatives of the Roads Authority during the next week, coinciding with the talk of the abolition of the Roads Authority.”

Deplorable
Meanwhile, since the majority of roads, particularly the internal roads, suffer from deplorable conditions due to their severe wear and tear owing to the lack of maintenance, officials in the Ministry of Public Works are trying to find urgent solutions, until the completion of the procedures for obtaining the approvals of the regulatory authorities regarding the tenders submitted through the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT), reports Al-Rai daily quoting informed sources in the ministry.

They said the ministry requested for the Fatwa and Legislation Department’s legal opinion about contracting with competent local, Arab and international companies to carry out the maintenance work of some roads that suffer from severe wear by signing contracts with them by direct order. The sources said, “The ministry is keen to complete the maintenance operations as quickly as possible. Because of that, it asked the Fatwa Department for its opinion regarding the possibility of signing contracts with some companies that are able to carry out the necessary maintenance work, with the aim of shortening the time factor that takes the documentary cycle, compared to contracts that are offered through CAPT.

If the Fatwa Department approves the request, the Ministry of Public Works will prepare the documents for the projects of the roads that will be maintained, in preparation for assigning work to companies that are able to implement it in the required manner. Any company that has observations on its previous contracts will be excluded.” The sources highlighted that the ministry is, at the same time, moving towards completing the approvals regarding the contracts offered through the bidding agency, with the aim of completing road maintenance work as soon as possible.

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