Manama: Bahrain is set to appoint a new company to continue currently halted work on the country's largest road interchange project.
The decision follows the suspension of work by Korea's Sungwon Corporation, which was awarded in 2007 the contract to construct a massive flyover aimed at removing traffic bottlenecks at the busy Eisa Town Gate Intersection.
Works minister Fahmy Al Jowder said that Bahrain would notify the bank of the decision this week and appoint other companies to continue the work, expected to be completed in September with a three-month delay.
"Bahrain has provided Sungwon with all financial guarantees, but the company is facing financial difficulties in Korea and Dubai and we are not ready to stop this vital project for such reasons," Al Jowder said.
"We will talk to other companies this week in order to go ahead with the work. This decision was based on an agreement signed between both parties, and the company failed to honour its commitments in continuing the work despite chances given by the government," the minister said.
Al Jowder said that many companies were ready to take over the project, but he expects the handover will take more than three weeks.
Al Jowder signed the project in November 2007 with the founder and Chairman of Sungwon Corporation, Yoon-Soo Jeon.
"The Eisa Town Gate Intersection will become a construction showpiece that will set new trends in the booming construction industry in Bahrain," Yoon-Soo Jeon said at the signing ceremony.
"This project is a great opportunity for Sungwon to showcase its expertise not only in the construction of high rise development but also in civil works for the region. It will enable us to offer our range of world-class services, wealth of expertise and long years of experience to a country like Bahrain that is committed to accelerated economic development," he said.
The Eisa Town Gate Intersection project is the biggest roads project in the Middle East to-date for Sungwon, one of the largest integrated construction companies in South Korea.
The multi-lane intersection will have five different arteries on three layers to help maintain the current volume of traffic flow at the Eisa Town Gate Intersection, which handles 6,000 cars per hour at peak time.
Sungwon used "a launching girder" that eliminating the need to use elaborate scaffoldings that disrupt traffic.
