Park investment file stalls amid Council, Municipality dispute

TDT | Manama

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Plans to develop Hatim Al Tai Park went before Muharraq Municipal Council yesterday, with deputy chairman Saleh Bu Hazzaa and Muharraq Municipality director general engineer Khalid Al Qallaf giving different accounts of why the project file has stalled.

Bu Hazzaa told councillors that an earlier meeting, held on the instruction of Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Wael Al Mubarak and attended by ministry undersecretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the municipality’s director general and the investor, had ended with a clear direction to complete the procedures and allocate the investment.

He said the meeting took place around three to four months ago.

After some time had passed, Bu Hazzaa said he contacted Al Qallaf to ask about the municipality’s reply to the undersecretary’s correspondence.

According to Bu Hazzaa, the response did not match what Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa later reaffirmed, which led him to question how the process was moving.

He added that the investor had met most of the required steps for the project, but that one precautionary measure had resulted in the transaction being stopped in the electronic system.

Bu Hazzaa said the council is keen to preserve investors’ rights and to encourage them to work with the municipality.

He called on the Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture to form an independent legal committee to review the Hatim Al Tai Park investment file, so that the procedures are clear, fair and protective of the investor’s position.