“We have just completed the signing of a contract worth SR52 million with Assad Said Contracting Company, Ltd. for the upgrade and expansion of the main road within the port and are currently in the process of opening bidding for a rainwater drainage system project worth SR65 million,” Sahir Tahlawi, director general of the port, said.
In August, Tahlawi said other projects that have been delayed because of financing issues totaled SR649 million.
They included a parking worth SR500 million, an SR109 million power station and new government buildings to be built at a cost of SR40 million.
“These projects are yet to be awarded as we are still in talks with the Ministry of Finance to receive the funding. We will be able to open the bidding once negotiations are settled,” Tahlawi said.
The Jeddah Islamic Port has been striving over the past few years to expand by as much as 45 percent. The first major phase of this plan was completed in 2009 with the opening of the Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) raising the handling capacity by 1.5 million TEUs. The total capacity at present is five million TEUs.
The Kingdom has said it will also invest SR2.3 billion in the coming years to double the capacity of its second largest port in Dammam and expand the industrial ports in Yanbu and Jubail.
In addition, the Ministry of Transport said in June that a port catering solely to grain imports is expected to be built in the Kingdom by 2014.
