M&R JV issued arbitral award in Dubai airport dispute

10th April 2019 By: Marleny Arnoldi - Deputy Editor Online

Murray & Roberts (M&R) has announced that an arbitral award has been issued in relation to a dispute between the Al Habtoor M&R Takenana (HMRT) joint venture (JV) and Dubai Civil Aviation (DCA) regarding a construction contract at the Dubai International Airport.

The Dubai International Arbitration Centre tribunal in its award, announced on April 3, made a number of determinations, dealing with many claims and counterclaims of the HMRT JV and DCA.

To bring the matter to conclusion, DCA now has to prepare and issue a final account for the project, taking into consideration the determinations of the tribunal in its award and, subsequently, DCA and HMRT have to agree the final account.

HMRT in 2009 reached a mutual agreement with DCA to withdraw from its R5-billion contract to build Concourse 3 at the airport. The parties, at the time, concluded that a mutually acceptable contract was not possible.

Limited work had been undertaken on the project.

HMRT delivered the Concourse 2 and Terminal 3 projects, which opened in 2008.

M&R has since exited its Middle East business, with the last projects in the region completed during the 2018 financial year.