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Terminated tunnel builders OHL, clinch multi-billion desert train contract!
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OHL, the international construction company who were awarded by the Gibraltar Government the £30,000,000 contract to build a tunnel at the end of the runway at Eastern Beach, and who only a few days ago were given 14 days notice to terminate the contract by the Government, have wasted no time in finding much more lucrative work elsewhere.
OHL it seems have been very busy this last year, not busy in Gibraltar as we all know, but extremely busy in the far-flung reaches of the Saudi Arabian Desert and by the news that’s coming through, OHL’S desert thoughts have paid off, making the Gibraltar tunnel project miniscule compared to other huge and important contracts elsewhere.
But the story gets even more interesting. OHL mingle very much in the right circles when comes to competing for contract work, this includes none other than Spanish Government itself and other major Spanish Companies.
Recently it has been reported that a Spanish consortium appears to have won a contract worth 7.0 billion Euros ($10 billion) to build a high-speed rail network linking Medina, Jeddah and the Muslim pilgrimage site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. One of the leaders of the consortium the Spanish rail operator Renfe, who along with Talgo, Adif, OHL and eight other Spanish companies, have for the best part of a year been competing with a French group made up of Alstom, and the French national train operator SNCF.
The contract consist of building the Haramein high-speed railway, that will stretch across 444km of the Saudi desert, carrying an expected 166,000 passengers a day during peak seasons from Mecca, through Jeddah Central Station, King Abdulaziz International Airport and terminating in Medina. The annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca attracts some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world each year for a stay of two weeks on average.
The Saudi Railways Organisation, who will be responsible for overseeing the construction, have already invited the Spanish companies to Jeddah to discuss the final technical aspects of the project. The winning consortium will supply the high-speed trains and maintain the line for a period of 12 years.
Such has been the bidding war for such a lucrative contract between the Spanish and French Governments, that France and Spain have held several diplomatic meetings with Saudi officials since the turn of the year, with Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, meeting King Abdullah in New York, and Trinidad Jimenez, Spain's foreign minister, visiting Saudi Arabia.
So from a local perspective, whilst OHL gets shown the door in Gibraltar, unable to have mastered the art of building a ‘pocket size tunnel’ they are successful in getting a contract to build a 445k, high speed railway network in one of the most demanding desert terrains in the world.
Minds begin to wonder, could it be that the fault is not at the front porch of the company, and other unknown factors are the cause of the tunnel works having been stopped for the best part of this year?
Whatever is the cause regarding this latest set back in another high profile government project, the public have a right to know exactly what is going on “the Contractor’s performance and lack of progress’ as the Government put it as the main cause for the contract breaking down, is just not good enough! More so if the Government now appears to be embarking on another expensive legal merry-go-round at tax payer’s expense!
But it does appear that OHL themselves are not without friends in high places; it will be intresting to monitor what develops in the coming weeks or months!
10-08-11
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