By Sami Zaptia.
London, 4 September 2020:
- Tripoli Airport Road Metal Bridge site handed over to Libyan-Italian company SINIT
- Bridge was build decades ago as a temporary structure by the Qaddafi regime
- Bridge is dilapidated and has passed its sell-by date
- Template of SINIT JV company could be route for return of other companies
- Contract was signed only in July this year
- Speed of execution proves that when needed, some projects can move quickly
- The contract/project is a boost for Italy in its efforts to keep hold of its share of Libyan market – in face of Turkish companies
The Tripoli Airport Road Metal Bridge site was officially handed over to the Libyan-Italian construction company ‘SINIT’ on Wednesday (2 September), an employee at Busleem Municipality has confirmed.
The contract aims for the maintenance of the dilapidated bridge, which by all accounts, has passed its sell-by date as it was built as a temporary bridge decades ago under the Qaddafi regime.
This work is coordinated between Busleem Municipality, where the bridge is located, and the Department of Roads and Bridges of the Ministry of Transport.
It is hoped that this joint-venture framework could act as a template, where appropriate, for the return of other foreign contractors with stalled projects in Libya.
It will be recalled that Libya’s Tripoli-based Ministry of Transport had signed the contract with the Libyan-Italian company “Sinit” in July this year for the maintenance of the metal bridge.
In August this year, an economic conference organized jointly by the Libyan Union of Chambers of Commerce and Tripoli Chamber of Commerce at the latter’s headquarters, and attended by the Italian embassy in Tripoli, sought to understand the obstacles to better penetration of the Libyan market by Italian companies.
In October 2018, Italian company, Soc. EI Impianti, signed what the Serraj government had referred to as an infrastructure maintenance contract with Tripoli University Hospital (TUH). The company has been working quietly and successfully, sources at the TUH told Libya Herald.
https://www.libyaherald.com/2020/07/22/ministry-of-transport-signs-contract-with-libyan-italian-company-for-airport-rd-metal-bridge-maintenance/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2020/08/13/italy-investigates-obstacles-to-improved-penetration-of-libyan-market/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2020/08/07/increased-turkish-maltese-italian-diplomacy-with-libya-the-development-of-a-new-tripartite-relationship-as-italy-attempts-to-pushback/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2020/07/09/security-arrangements-discussed-for-italian-companys-return-to-work-at-tripoli-international-airport/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2018/10/19/italian-company-signs-contract-to-maintain-infrastructure-of-tripoli-university-hospital/
https://www.libyaherald.com/2020/09/03/italian-fm-di-maio-discusses-return-of-contractors-to-resume-libya-stalled-projects/
