Daewoo Engineering & Construction has won a US$ 192m river basin maintenance order in Algeria, the company has announced. The new project will be commissioned by the DRHEE, the water authority in the Constantine province of the country. It will involve cleaning up of the 11.72 kilometer river banks and low water channels along the Rhumel River and Oued Bou Merzoug about 320 kilometers east of Algiers.
Daewoo Engineering & Construction landed the deal through a consortium with a local company, ONIDri in which Daewoo has a 70% stake worth US$ 135m. The project is expected to last for 20 months. The maintenance works will involve building river bank parks, walking trails, and bike paths.
The Korean company jointly won a similar deal in river maintenance in 2012, with the Korean Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute to clean up the Oued El Harrach river basin in Algiers. The two projects are part of Daewoo’s effort to win overseas environmental projects.
The new contract was won by Daewoo Engineering & Construction through a free contract without going through public bidding. This, according to Daewoo is due to the trust they gained from the El Harrach project in 2012. Daewoo also lauded the Korean government for the support which according to a Daewoo official enabled the company to win the deal. The Korean government signed a memorandum in March this year with the Algerian Ministry of Land-use Planning and Environment.
Daewoo E&C moved into the North African country in 1988 even before the Korean government established diplomatic ties with the country and has since won 12 projects worth $4,354 million in total.
