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Photo from Ukrinform – UATV
By June 25, Saudi Arabia will hold a tender for the construction of a 60 kilometers-long canal, which would completely separate Qatar from Saudi Arabia, essentially turning Qatar into an island.
Bloomberg reports that five international companies have been invited to compete for the massive project. The bids will close on Monday and the winner of the tender will be announced within 90. After the winner-company is announced it will have one year to complete the construction of the canal.
A conglomerate of nine Saudi companies would be involved in canal construction.
The preliminary cost of the project is $744.7 million. The channel would be 200 meters wide and 15-to-20 meters deep. Saudi Arabia has big plans for the area surrounding the channel. Part of it would be used to construct a military base, part for a nuclear waste facility and parts for beach resorts. Because the canal would be completely within Saudi Arabian territory, Qatar would have no access to it.
Plans for Qatar’s isolation began after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and other countries accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, charges Qatar denies. Some of these countries completely ended relations with Qatar, which is one of the richest of nations per capita.
