Bahrain needs $795million to complete stalled development projects

Manama: Bahrain should create a bailout fund to raise BD300mn ($795mn) to complete all stalled private development projects in the country, a real estate expert has stated.

Nasser Al Ahly, a Bahrain Real Estate Association board member and a member of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s real estate sector committee, added that he expects wealthy Bahrainis ‘to pump money in’, local media reported.

“It is very difficult to convince foreign investors to buy these stalled projects so work can resume when regional economies are feeling the heat because of low oil prices,” said Al Ahly. “The best option is for rich Bahraini businessmen to unite and raise funds.”

Last February, Bahrain’s government formed a ministerial committee, headed by Deputy Premier Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, to ensure the completion of a number of stalled real estate projects.

“If we include some of the other delayed projects, like Sunset Hills and Juffair Views, then based on rough calculations, we need over BD 300mn to complete all of them,” said Al Ahly adding that Marina West, a $750m development of 10 residential towers and a five-star hotel where work stopped in March 2010, is a priority project.