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Construction of fence on Israel-Egypt border
Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

NIS 600M bid for Egypt border fence

Defense Ministry tender part of construction of 230 km security fence; 45 km already completed, 50 km under construction

In the wake of the escalation in the south, the Ministry of Defense has issued a bid for infrastructure earthworks on the Israel- Egypt border in perpetration for the construction of a separation fence on the southern border.

 

The tender is part of a construction project for 230 kilometers (143 miles) of a security fence along the border. The section currently under construction is 80 kilometers (50 miles) long and includes a serrated-top iron fence fitted with electronic security devices.

 

Thus far, 45 kilometers (28 miles) of the fence have been completed and an additional 50 kilometers (31 miles) are under construction.

 

The tender's final phase will be issued within a few months. All infrastructure contractors will be permitted to bid. The Ministry of Defense is expected to choose three contractors who will join the contractors already working on site.

 

The tender is considered particularly attractive in the infrastructure sector as construction is a large ongoing project that can produce a large steady cash flow for the contractors.

 

The cost of the aforementioned section, construction of the fence and instillation of special equipment included, is estimated at some NIS 550-650 million ($155-180 million).

 

The acceleration of the tender comes in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the Egyptian border over the past week and concerns are that the terrorists infiltrated Israel through the sections of the border that have not yet been secured.

 

Sources close to the matter imparted that the tender has been planned a while ago and that the current tender paper was written within three months, long before the escalation in the southern border. Estimated deadline for construction is late 2012.

 

The Ministry of Defense noted that the estimate of the project's cost is NIS 1.3 billion ($360 million) which will be allocated from the budgets of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance as per the government's decision from last year.

 

Click here to read this report in Hebrew

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.23.11, 16:54
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