Ministry of Housing (Bahrain) explained

Type:Ministry
Formed:1975 (years ago)
Preceding1:The Ministry of Works & Housing (MWH)
Jurisdiction:Cabinet of Bahrain
Headquarters:Diplomatic Area, Manama
Coordinates:26.2412°N 50.5891°W
Prime Minister Name:Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Minister1 Name:Basim bin Yacob Alhamer
Deputyminister1 Name:Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa (Undersecretary)
Website:housing.gov.bh

The Ministry of Housing (MOH) is responsible for providing adequate housing for families with limited income in Bahrain.

History and profile

The Ministry was established in 1975[1] with Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa the first Housing Minister.[1] He served in the post between 1975 and 1995.[2]

The cabinet added the Housing sector to the Ministry of Works functions after Parliament elections in November 2002. It was then called "The Ministry of Works & Housing". In December 2007, the Ministry of Works and Housing was again divided into two separate Ministries, one for Housing and one for Public Works.

Ministry's projects

The ministry has allegedly constructed 91,864 housing services to this day.[3] The most notable projects were the construction of:

In 2013 the Ministry of Housing announced the first ever housing public private partnership (PPP). Partnering with Ithmaar Bank the Ministry has plans to build 50,000 social housing units. The project has begun with 2,800 units in Al Medina Al Shamaliya and Al Luwzi.[4]

Criticism

In May 2013, Prince Charles’s Foundation for Building Community had signed an agreement with the Bahraini Minister of Housing, Basim Alhamer. The purpose was to advise on a sustainable-housing development inspired by Charles’s Poundbury village in Dorset. The £700,000 deal was sharply criticised by campaigners who said it deflected attention from human-rights abuses during the 2011 bloody protests for reform in Bahrain.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Urban Revitalization of Mass Housing International Competition. Ministry of Housing. 30 September 2014. Report. https://web.archive.org/web/20141006104251/http://www.masshousingcompetition.org/sites/default/files/bh-000-867-report01.pdf. 6 October 2014. dead.
  2. Web site: About Us . Isa Award . 18 April 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131007025844/http://isaaward.org/default.asp?action=category&id=22 . 7 October 2013 .
  3. http://housing.gov.bh/en/AboutUs/Pages/default.aspx About Us
  4. Web site: Bahrain launches public-private housing scheme. tradearabia.com.
  5. Web site: First Poundbury, now Bahrain: Should Prince Charles really be selling town planning to despots?. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-poundbury-now-bahrain-should-prince-charles-really-be-selling-town-planning-to-despots-8616371.html . 15 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent. 17 August 2014.