Fly-by-night companies in a rat- race to built the great “Algiers’ Mosque”

Among the companies that bid for the construction of the great “Algiers’ Mosque” many have already benefitted form major contracts in Algeria through inappropriate means including corruption, causing tremendous losses to the country’s treasury and big delays, sources close to the file revealed.

• In a declaration made to “Echourok” yesterday the religious affairs minister Abdellah Ghoulem Allah has indicated that a total of 24 companies have drawn up the specifications, including two Algerian companies, 5 Islamic ones and the rest from the remaining countries.
• The National Agency in charge of the project will tomorrow draw the list of the companies selected for the construction of the mosque whose initial cost is estimated at over 1 billion Euros, pending the setting up of the independent committee in charge of the supervision and the examination of the bids.
• Although some Italian, Chinese and Egyptian companies have a very bad reputation on the Algerian market on account of their failure to live up to the Algerian authorities’ expectations, they have bid for the project which is regarded as one of the Algerian President’s highest priorities.
• Experts insist on the necessity to select credible companies in order to build this mosque and bare the route to opportunists whose sole intention is to garner huge benefits.