Contract with Lebanese company terminated

Manama  : A five-year contract that was signed by the Government with a Lebanese-based cleaning company was recently revoked due to political tensions.

Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry has announced in a recently-issued statement that “the ministry is taking necessary procedures to terminate its contract with Averda International FZ that was assigned by the contract to collect domestic waste in Muharraq and Capital governorates”.

The ministry didn’t explain in its statement the cause of the sudden procedure, but reliable sources confirmed that it’s related to the ongoing political tensions between GCC countries and Lebanon.

“The termination was legally done through the Tender Board and after obtaining necessary approval from the concerned authorities,” the ministry’s statement read, adding that “negotiations have begun with the second tender’s presenter.”

Signed last December, the contract between the ministry and Averda only lasted for few months.

The company had initiated an advertisement campaign last week, days before the ministry’s announcement was publicised, promising to create 1000 jobs in Bahrain.

Interestingly, the ministry’s announcement came a few hours after the company posted on its official social media pages that an assessment centre for candidates will be opened in Bahrain on April 10-14, with the aim of recruiting 1000 employees.

Anyhow, the accounts didn’t mention anything about the company’s situations in Bahrain, unlike the previous days when a concentrated campaign was ongoing under the slogan #1000jobs.