Meeting

Housing Minister Basem bin Yacoub Al-Hamer chaired a key meeting yesterday (November6) to discuss the development of the strategy which was launched two years ago(2012).
The meeting, which was attended by senior officials, discussed plans to construct 40,000 housing units following orders from His Majesty the King last year on sidelines of festivities marking the National Day.
Under the strategy, a series of projects will be announced soon to build residential blocs across Bahrain and launch new phases in the new housing towns which are under construction.
The session spotlighted the housing projects which will be funded under the GCC financial programme as well as tenders for the new residential cities.
The ministry has already given the go-ahead for reclamation work for the East City Town and constructed the first part of the multi-phased East Hid City which includes 483 units.
The ministry urged the directorate of strategic projects to overcome all challenges and speed up work so to as to finalise procedures for projects to be launched in planned phases.
He instructed the directorate of housing services to draw up the lists of candidates who would be eligible to receive units and loans which would hopefully be announced as part of festivities marking the National Say and His Majesty’s Accession Day in December.
The minister was updated on the construction of 2450 units in partnership with the private sector – 1618 units in the Northern Town and 832 in Al-Lawzy residential project.
He was also briefed on the three-phased social housing funding programme, which was launched last December, under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa.