KUWAIT CITY, Dec 25: Kuwait is seeking investors for a multi-billion-dollar project to turn an island off its coast into a major tourist attraction, a government official said on Saturday.

"The countdown has started for the largest development project," since the end of Iraqi occupation in Feb 1991, said Jassem al Oun, head of Kuwait Islands and Mega Projects Development Agency.

Nine consortia have already been chosen to bid for the project to develop Failaka Island, which lies 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Kuwait City and which became a heavily mined military base during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.

On Dec 29 and 30 the agency will distribute documents containing the "Terms of Reference" to the consortia, which consist of more than 120 companies most of them Kuwaiti, Jassem Oun said.

The consortia must submit their bids within three months and the winner will be picked between April and June, said Oun, who expected the deal to be signed in September next year.

The 26-square-kilometre project calls for the construction of a holiday resort complete with hotels, chalets and entertainment facilities on the basis of build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreements.

BOT agreements will last for 30 years and can be renewed for a fresh term.

Construction is expected to take up to 10 years to complete and investments required range from two billion to three billion dollars, Oun said.

Failaka, the scene of an attack in Oct 2002 when two Kuwaitis killed a US marine during wargames, is home to the country's most important archaeological site.

It is 43 square kilometres in size, boasts 38 kilometres of coastline and is almost completely flat.

During the Iraqi occupation, Kuwaitis on the island moved back to the mainland, although some families have since begun renovating their properties.

After the occupation, the Kuwait government bought up many of the residences on the island and the armed forces today maintain a major presence.

A new harbour with a capacity for 300 boats will be built on the Island to link it with the mainland, Mr Oun said.-AFP