'No' says government to housing on reclaimed land

Manama : A bill calling to set apart 25 percent of the reclaimed lands in the Kingdom for housing projects has been rejected by the government saying, “It violates the Kingdom’s constitution and limits investment opportunities”. 

Land reclamation permits, according to the statement issued, are mainly given for projects envisaged in the tourism and industrial sectors. 

Rejecting the proposal, which was approved by a majority of the MPs earlier this year, the statement also pointed out that “it won’t be appropriate for establishing housing units as these projects are located in remote areas.”

This was made clear in a communiqué sent to both Councils saying: “The government with all of its concerned ministries rejects this proposal.”

Parliamentarians, however, apparently not happy with the explanation, went on giving their nod saying, “Amwaj, Durrat Al Bahrain and Diyar Al Muharraq Islands” are a good example to follow.

They also insisted that the move would help to reduce the waiting time for housing units.  

Originally proposed by MP Mohammed Al Maarifi and four others in 2015, the bill requires the Government to allocate a quarter of each of the land reclaimed to construct housing units under the jurisdiction of Housing Ministry.

The bill was passed by the House last February, notwithstanding the concerns raised by the government saying, “The bill includes constitutional violations and limits investment opportunities.”

However, in a recent meeting, the Public Utilities and Environment Committee in the Council issued a report supporting the decision of the Shura Council and Government to reject the bill. 

The report will be tabled in the upcoming regular weekly session on Tuesday.