Bahraini plans legal action over directive to return housing unit

A Bahraini citizen is planning to sue the Housing Ministry after he was asked to return a housing unit, which he received after waiting for over three decades.

The man told Tribune that the ministry has asked him to return the unit as it belonged to a different beneficiary, citing “administrative error” as the reason behind the mess up.

Abdulnabi Abdulwasi, a father of three, said that he applied for the unit in 1988 and was given one within the Sitra Housing Project recently.

He said the ministry contacted him earlier this year to receive the unit and that he completed all the formalities and the necessary procedures before he was handed over the keys of the house.

“After 30 years of paying rent, I was happy that I would finally have my own house for me and my family. Once I received the keys, I informed the concerned department in the ministry that I would do some changes to the unit to better suit our needs. “I received an approval, provided that no demolishing process are done to any part of the unit. I initiated the modification works and fixed new decorations inside the house. But, around two weeks later, I received a call from the ministry informing me that the unit will be withdrawn as I am not the rightful beneficiary and that it was simply given to me by mistake.”

“I was shocked to hear this especially that all the legal documents prove that I am the owner of the unit, as I completed all the necessary requirements, such as the Electricity and Water Authority subscription, once I received the unit. “If the ministry’s claims are true and the unit was mistakenly handed over to me, why do I have to bear the consequence of a mistake I didn’t make? Why this error was only discovered after the keys were given to me and after I have spent money on developing the house?” Mr Abdulwasi asked.