South Shamkha 'mega development' to be completed by 2014

ABU DHABI // Construction on a 40 million square-metre "mega development" that will eventually house more than 130,000 Emiratis should be completed within three years, a top official said yesterday at the Cityscape property exhibition.

The South Shamkha residential development, 45 kilometres east of the capital, will include nearly 12,500 plots for Emirati housing. Contracts worth an estimated Dh7 billion, to manage the development's infrastructure, were awarded this week. Work will officially begin on May 1.

"This is a reality of the Government's vision," said Mohammed al Muhairi, the chief executive of Musanada, the Government's "shared services" unit. "This development, by itself, will be a demonstration of how the emirate should look in 2030."

Musanada's building services department is responsible for overseeing all of the development's infrastructure - from utilities to roads and pavements. The project will be completed in four stages and is the government's first example of "one-stop contract management".

"We're managing the whole project from start to end," said Mr al Muhairi. "It's going to be very customer-centric. One of the lessons learnt [by] the Government is how to … serve the public."

The South Shamkha project is intended to be self-sufficient and will also include public transportation.

Musanada will oversee contracts covering more than 400km of roadworks and nearly 900km of water and sewer projects, the development of a power distribution system and 995km of storm drainage.

Musanada also announced yesterday that two three-year contracts worth Dh180 million were awarded to Etisalat Facilities Management and Emco for services to nearly 200 government buildings emirate-wide.

jthomas@thenational.ae