Al Lawzi project ‘on track’

The initiative to develop housing units on government-owned land is in line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Minister, Bassim Al Hamar, said. He added that the Government Executive Committee, chaired by HRH the Crown Prince, has been keen on providing all success requirements for the initiative, which is expected to yield positive results that would contribute to ensuring sustainable housing services. He pointed out that the Housing Ministry had launched the first tender of the programme to build housing units on stateowned lands by private real estate developers.

The tender includes the building of 132 housing units on a government-owned land in Al Lawzi, in addition to the necessary infrastructure works accompanying the project. He indicated that 132-unit project is the pilot phase of the ambitious project, which was inaugurated by the Housing Minister in cooperation with the Eskan Bank in October last year, noting that it will provide the Ministry with an opportunity to make the necessary improvements on the programme before its official adoption.

Under the scheme, private real estate development companies develop housing projects on state-owned land, and then the units will be sold to the citizens who are on the waiting lists through receiving one of the Housing Ministry’s financing programmes. Mr Al Hamar said that real estate development companies had been requested to submit their bids for the 132-unit project before March 4 so that construction works begin in May. He added that if the project proves its success, a string of similar housing projects will be implemented across the kingdom’s governorates to build about 15,000 units on stateowned land lots over a period of ten years.