BD1m needed to acquire lands for parking lots

Over BD1 million is required to acquire lands in Umm Al Hassam in order to create public parking spaces and tackle the increasing parking issues in the area, it was announced recently.

Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry said it had conducted a comprehensive study to acquire eight proprieties and convert them into public parking spaces that is estimated to accommodate 343 vehicles in the congested area.

“Considering the tight acquisition budget of the Ministry, we are studying several options, including partnership with the private sector and inviting investors to construct a multi-storey parking building to serve the residents of the area,” the Ministry added.

This came in the Ministry’s reply to a parliamentary proposal to create additional public parking spaces in Umm Al Hassam through the acquisition of lands by the government.

The proposal, which was submitted by local MP Abdulrahman Bumjaid and four other lawmakers, was referred to the council’s Public Utilities and Environment Committee for discussion.

The presenters said the proposal serves the purpose of coping with the increasing urban development and high growth of the area’s population. They added that this would reduce the parking issues in residential areas problem.

The committee agreed to the proposal and will discuss it openly with the council on Tuesday.

The area of Umm Al Hassam is steadily expanding, with more commercial and residential buildings being constructed. As reported recently, the Government of Bahrain announced that it had completed constructing four residential buildings in Umm Al Hassan recently. The project will provide 128 apartments for Bahrainis.