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Rotondo Weirich’s (RW) UAE partner company, RW Middle East, has started work on an investment housing contract awarded to the Iraqi Developer Sama Al Douh Contracting and Real Estate Investments by the Iraqi Ministry of Housing.

Sama Al Douh has selected RW Middle East to design and build the residential development in Simawah [Samawa], Iraq, representing approximately $98 million US dollars’ worth of work.

Ahmed Halet, Managing Director of RW Middle East said;

“This project will be housing nearly 7,000 individuals. It is a design and build project where the development was designed around the traditional Iraqi family values. By choosing a modular building solution, residents can look forward to durable and attractive housing which will be built fast. The development will include amenities such as a Mosque, restaurants, schools, market, cultural center and health center. We see this as the first of many new opportunities for modular residential construction in the region.”

The project will be built over an area of 221,000 m2 with built up area of 177,000 m2. It comprises 72, G+3 buildings and 156, G+1 villas, making the total number of dwellings 1,308 with all the necessary, infrastructure services networks, roads, landscape, etc. It is slated to begin 4th quarter 2012, and scheduled to continue throughout the next two years.

Steve Weirich, owner and CEO of RW said today:

“This project is a direct result of RW’s consistent presence in the region, in particular Simawah, where we built our first 4 bedroom model villa earlier this year. These durable structures will allow the growing culture to thrive in comfortable, secure residences which are convenient to various community amenities. Each housing unit will be set in place, complete with interior finishes, electrical, and plumbing. The signing of this contract further establishes our presence in the Middle East and strengthens our international relationships. We are excited to get started.”

 (Source: RW)

His Excellency Dr Khalaf Samad Khalaf (pictured), Governor of Basrah, is guest of honour at IBBC’s Iraq Day Conference at London’s Mansion House on May 17th 2012 attended also by executives from the world’s leading corporations including major oil and construction companies.

As rising oil sales supercharge the Iraqi economy Dr Khalaf’s keynote address will outline business opportunities in the Basrah region for Western firms.

Delegates will hear millions of new homes are being planned along with highways, hospitals, schools, power plants, airports, ports and sports stadiums.

In short: contracts worth millions of dollars are up for grabs.

Other keynote speakers include former NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, British Minister of State for Universities and Science, Rt.Hon. David Willetts MP and IBBC Executive Chairman Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne.

Companies sending delegates include: Aegis, AMEC, Basrah Engineering, BP, CCC,Chevron, Clyde & Co, Control Risks, Dome Group, ExxonMobil, Fluor Ltd, Foster Wheeler, G4S, Gulfsands, KBR, KCA Deutag, Kier, Mott MacDonald, Olive Group, Petrofac, PwC, Shell, SKA International, South Oil Company, Trinity Group, Vitol, Weir Group and Wood Group.

Other delegations include: UK Trade and Investment, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Export Finance ECGD, UK Border Agency, Basrah Chamber of Commerce and Basrah Business Council, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, London.

RW [Rotondo Weirich], through its division in United Arab Emirates, RW Middle East, has built the first modular precast concrete villa, located in Samawah City, Al Muthanna Governorate, Southern Iraq.

This 2,500 ft2 villa demonstrates the technology and benefits of fast track precast modular concrete construction versus other methods of residential building in the gulf region, such as precast panels or traditional masonry construction.

“Imagine assembling a secure, sustainable, villa in just one day, allowing for thousands to be built in half the time of traditional masonry construction. That’s exactly what we have done,” says Ahmed Halet of RW Middle East.

RW shipped their formwork from the US to Southern Iraq, and specialized supervisors temporarily moved to Samawah City to manage and train local Iraqi workers in modular precast construction. All materials and equipment used to build the villa were procured locally and the local workers gained knowledge and training which can now be transferred to their next jobs.

Developers are finding RW’s precast modular construction to be an ideal fit for building in the Middle East. By producing the modules onsite, the time and risk usually present when transporting modules from a factory to the site is removed. Once pulled from the mold, the pieces are erected into place and finishing begins. Schedules are drastically reduced, there is minimal waste, significant cost savings, and the result is a sustainable, durable, and secure product.

“Precast modular construction is the right fit for new large scale housing due to the fast paced construction, strength, and durability of the materials and technology used,” said Steve Weirich, President and CEO of RW. “Once a project has been slated for construction, one 4-bedroom villa can be produced per day per set of formwork.

The model villa is complete with interior finishes, electrical, and plumbing, and it is open for demonstration and viewing purposes. RW’s vision is to produce thousands of the modular precast villas to provide high quality, affordable housing for citizens of Southern Iraq. The team intends to expand construction activities to other areas and countries in the Middle East.

(Source: Rotondo Weirich)

A legal adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Sunday that the Iraqi government is currently pursuing more than 150 foreign companies accused of corruption in the Oil-for-Food program, according to an AKnews report.

Fadel Mohammed told the agency that the government is determined to bring these companies to justice, adding that there are a number of additional companies currently under investigation.

The Oil-for-Food Program was instituted to relieve the suffering of civilians as the result of the sanctions imposed on Iraq from the UN following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.

Over $65 billion worth of Iraqi oil was sold on the world market during the program. About $46 billion of these funds were intended to provide for the humanitarian needs of Iraqi people such as food and medicine in the context of international economic sanctions.

Throughout its existence, the program was dogged by accusations that some of its profits were unlawfully diverted to the government of Iraq and to UN officials.

Contracts to sell Iraq humanitarian goods through the Oil-for-Food Program were allegedly given to companies and individuals based on their willingness to kick back a certain percentage of the contract profits to the Iraqi regime.

Companies that sold commodities via the Oil-for-Food Program were said to be overcharging by up to 10%, with part of the overcharged amount being diverted into private bank accounts for Saddam Hussein and other regime officials and the other part being kept by the supplier.

International aid organizations reported that in the course of the program, more than 500,000 Iraqi children died of malnutrition because of the mishandling of funds.

Following the $22m fine imposed on Scottish engineering group Weir (LSE: WEIR) in December for bribery related to the program, it has been annouced that some of this fine will be used to support development programs in Iraq.

(Source: AKnews, Daily Express)

Scottish engineer Weir Group (LSE: WEIR) has agreed to plead guilty to two charges of breaching UN sanctions in connection with a number of UN sanctioned Oil for Food programme contracts awarded between 2000 and 2002.

Following the guilty plea, the Company will be subject to a confiscation order in respect of its benefit from the offences. Subject to the Court's approval, the Company has agreed the amount of this confiscation order at £13,945,962 [$22m]. In addition the Company will be liable to a fine, the amount of which will be decided by the Court following the hearing.

Lord Smith, Chairman of Weir, commented: "What happened was wrong. As I said in 2004, I am bitterly disappointed that this went on within the Weir Group. Since 2004, when we first disclosed the issue, we have radically overhauled procedures. A strong ethics culture is in place across the Group and it is the reference point for everything we do."

Maintenance work has begun on Karbala’s oldest bridge, which was built during the royal era, the head of the city’s provincial council said on Tuesday.

“On Tuesday, technical teams and engineers from a local company started maintenance work on the old Tuweireg Bridge in al-Hindiya district (20 km east of Karbala),” Mohammed Hameed al-Moussawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The bridge is important as it links Karbala to the southern provinces, Moussawi noted.

“It has been the only outlet to the city throughout the past decades,” he added.

The total cost of the project, which is expected to be completed within three months, is 220 million Iraqi dinars, according to Moussawi.

The bridge was established during the British occupation in 1955.

(Aswat Al Iraq)