Shura to Debate Kuwait Fund Loan for Sh. Jaber Al Sabah Highway Upgrade

TDT | Manama

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The Shura Council will debate on Sunday a funding package worth up to 70 million Kuwaiti dinars from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to part-finance Phase Two of the Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah Highway upgrade, a project costed at about 105.9 million Kuwaiti dinars and tied to Decree No. 30 of 2025.

The scheme aims to ease pressure on an 11-kilometre route linking Manama with Sitra, Ma’ameer, Aker and the Nuwaidrat industrial area, with links to key sites including the Bapco refinery and Alba.

The Financial and Economic Affairs Committee recommended approval of the draft law that would ratify a framework agreement signed on 23 March 2025. Under the plan, the Fund’s support would be split into seven loans of up to 10 million Kuwaiti dinars each, with the remaining cost met through the state’s general budget.

The committee put the Fund’s share at 70 million Kuwaiti dinars, or about 66 per cent of the total, with around 35.9 million Kuwaiti dinars to be covered by the state. It described the lending terms as concessional, citing an interest rate of 3.5 per cent and repayment over up to 20 years, including a grace period of up to seven years, while noting the borrowing would sit within government debt.

According to the report, Phase Two would widen the highway from three lanes to four in each direction, build five flyovers between the Umm Al Hassam interchange and the Nuwaidrat interchange, and add service roads and car parks along the route for nearby commercial and office buildings. The works also include upgrades to stormwater drainage, new lighting and road markings. A linked scheme would widen Shaikh Salman Al Fateh Highway, branching off from the highway, to four lanes over about two kilometres.

The Ministry of Finance and National Economy said the project is intended to serve industrial, residential and commercial areas, support passenger movement and freight transport, cut travel times, ease bottlenecks and reduce road accidents, and said it supported the draft law and the attached agreement.