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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 4 June 2013:
Mahmoud Ajaj, Chairman of the Housing and Infrastructure Board (HIB) revealed today at the second day . . .[restrict]of the MEED “Projects Libya 2013” conference being held in Tripoli, that giant US Project Management firm AECOM is returning to Libya.
Ajaj said that an agreement had been reached and that he expected AECOM to return in August with the advance team probably arriving in July.
He said that it would provide project supervision, training, and knowledge transfer. He expected over one thousand Libyans would receive training. He did not give details about the length or the value of the contract with AECOM.
The HIB head admitted that the scale of projects Libya has to complete or wishes to embark upon in the future were well beyond the human resource capacity of Libya. He said “we need help”.
AECOM will have a role in assessing contractors and Ajaj said that those contractors found wanting will be replaced. AECOM is also expected to help Libya negotiate with its present contractors regarding their claims and status.
Ajaj also added that HIB had only received LD 1.5 bn in the 2013 budget, wheras they had requested about LD 32 bn for its projects.
Looking to the future, Ajaj forecast that the private sector will begin to play an increasingly greater role in the construction sector. The annual construction needs of the nation were beyond the state budget which is LD 66 bn in 2013, Ajaj added.
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