Algeria’s Minister of Public Works, Abdelkader Kadi has said that the 1,216 kilometres East-West Highway will cost US$ 13 billion.
The Minister, who was responding to a question from a member of the National People’s Assembly, said that the cost per kilometer is estimated at US$ 11 million. The road will stretch from the Tunisian borders to the Morocco border.
He added that the overall cost of the road construction project was set in the context of the tender and that the average cost per kilometer changes from region to another and depends on soil quality and reliefs.
The planned road construction project will involve setting up a six-lane highway and is touted as one of the largest public works project worldwide. A complex consortium of international suppliers is undertaking the project, after it was started in 2007, but there have been concerns of corruption and delays.
The minister said some engineering firms which had not complied with the control of the road construction project works had been banned from working in the country and had their contracts terminated. Other construction projects being undertaken includes the river basin maintenance deal for Rhumel River and Oued Bou Merzoug about 320 kilometers east of Algiers, estimated to take US$192m and being undertaken by Daewoo Engineering and Construction.
