The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) has commenced operations at the Base Camp of The Red Sea Project, a major tourism development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Situated near the coastal area near the southern end of the 28,000 square kilometre destination, The Base Camp is the first of numerous enabling works to be carried out in 2019 to provide essential infrastructure for the Project, which is set to be one of the most ambitious tourism developments in the world, TRSDC said in a statement.
These works include temporary roads, bridges, jetties, utilities, workforce accommodation, and a management village which will support the development of the luxury tourism destination, it added.
There are currently 60 people who live and work on site, including project and construction managers, health and safety and environmental professionals, government affairs specialists and others. The Base Camp also prayer, gym, dining and other amenities. Solar water heaters are also utilised, while there is an emergency medical facility on site, with a full-time male nurse and an ambulance.
This is an important milestone for The Red Sea Project and takes us another step closer to our goal of creating a truly exquisite tourism destination on the beautiful Red Sea coast, said John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC.
The remote nature of the site, which is an important part of its appeal as a destination, creates logistical challenges for the support of large-scale development. The Base Camp is an essential first step in preparing the destination for construction.
Amongst the first priorities overseen from Base Camp will be the development of the Construction Village, a residential compound that will house the workforce. The first phase will hold up to 10,000 people, while providing accommodation, amenities and recreation to the highest standards.
The Base Camp will also kick of TRSDCs implementation of comprehensive provisions for health and worker safety, the developer added.
Construction work on the Construction Village is scheduled to start in Q2 2019.
We will be sourcing labour locally and internationally using both our own resources and those of our construction and development partners, said Pagano. Our objective is to set a new standard of excellence for labour management in the region.
Another key part of the Phase 0 works will be the Management Village. The Management Village will, once complete, replace the base camp as the centre of TRSDC operations on site and house a wider range of project management and corporate functions. Management Village works will commence in Q2 2019.
TRSDC will also construct a temporary bridge to connect a hub island the focal point of The Red Sea Project Phase 1 development to the shore, allowing materials to be transported by road as well as jetties to allow access to the more remote islands.
The enabling works will seek to employ the latest technologies in high-quality prefabricated modular construction, where appropriate, to minimise environmental and social impact on site. Buildings and structures will be manufactured either within KSA or overseas and shipped to the site to be placed at their final location as large pre-fabricated elements, thereby reducing demand for on-site labour and temporary utilities.
As with every aspect of the project, we are working hard to ensure that our operations have minimal impact on the surrounding ecosystems while providing a safe and comfortable environment for our people to work in, said Pagano.
As work progresses on the destination, we will be carefully monitoring our environmental impact to ensure that we achieve our objective of setting a new global standard in sustainable development.
