KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr Noura Al-Mashaan seems to have made the new passenger terminal building project (T2) one of her top priorities since her appointment to Cabinet. The minister has made several statements to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) over the past few weeks, emphasizing the importance of “overcoming obstacles” facing the project, although she doesn’t specify what they are. The statements were made after meetings with officials in sectors related to the project.

The emphasis in these statements has been that the ministry is determined to finish the project on time, although the ministry has not officially set a specific deadline. Construction hasn’t progressed according to initial plans, with several delays to the original timeline set by the ministry. Critics have previously demanded clear communication from the ministry on when it expects the project to be done, the latest of which a previous member of parliament who told a local Arabic newspaper that having a public deadline is not “a miracle”.

The latest statement Mashaan made on Saturday was after a meeting she held with the contractor and administrative office of the project. According to a KUNA statement, the meeting aimed at to “affirming the need of accelerating implementing the project, in line with the timetable of the contract.”

“The T2, when achieved in cooperation with concerned bodies, would contribute greatly to improving passengers’ experience and accommodating expected increased number of travelers,” the statement quotes the minister. “The new airport project comes to confirm commitments to developing the civil aviation sector as it plays a vital role in backing the country’s economy.”

Constant delays

The terminal, which has been under construction since 2017, was set to be ready for operation by the end of 2023. The project has been broken down to three phases, with the first including a passenger terminal, central station, and the connection to service tunnels. The second involves car parks, service buildings, and roads leading to the new passenger terminal. The third phase contains aircraft parking and taxiways. The $4.34 billion terminal is expected to triple the capacity of Kuwait’s airport to 25 million passengers a year.

In 2022, the public works ministry pushed the deadline to the third quarter of 2024, citing COVID-19 travel restrictions, which have made it impossible to bring in the labor needed for construction. In December 2023, the first phase of the project was at 72.64 percent complete, said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to KUNA. The second phase of the new (T2) had also reached 68.1 percent. Last May, a spokesperson with the ministry told local media that the project is expected to be finished sometime in 2025.

The same month, Limak Insaat, the Turkish company building the terminal, announced that work is nearing completion on the T2. “We are thrilled to support the development of Kuwait and realize the ambitious vision of HH the Amir of Kuwait. For us, Kuwait is a home-away-from-home, and our commitment to its social and economic growth is deep-rooted,” said Ebru Ozdemir, Chair of the Board of Limak Holding, during an event attended by HH the Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

“For the project to be sustainable and deliver economic benefits for the local economy and people, it’s important for it to be managed by Kuwaitis,” she added. Kuwaitization in the project’s administrative roles is at 100 percent, officials have said.