Cabinet issues instructions to relocate Clock Tower to ease traffic snarls

The Cabinet yesterday gave the nod to increase the number of lanes on Wali Al Ahd Highway, from the Riffa Roundabout to the Hamad Town Roundabout. During its weekly session, chaired by Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa at Gudaibiya Palace, the Cabinet also issued instructions to transfer the Clock Tower to another site to ease traffic snarls.

Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa was also present during the session, which approved a memorandum related to the National Authority of Qualifications and Quality Assurance for Education and Training. The memorandum includes the results of the 21st and 22nd performance audit of public and private schools and training institutions and a review of university courses.

Meanwhile, HRH the Prime Minister directed the Housing Ministry to speed up the distribution of 832 units in the Damistan Housing Project. Prince Khalifa also called for a study on the possibility of giving oversight of the Jannusan social housing project to the Housing Ministry. Stressing the need to preserve green spaces, HRH Premier gave instructions to rationalise energy consumption in government buildings and increase energy efficiency to control costs.

 “The Cabinet gave the go-ahead to increase the number of lanes on the highway. It also issued instructions to transfer the Clock Tower monument to another site to ease the flow of traffic,” Cabinet Secretary General said in a statement yesterday.

The decision to expand the vital two-lane road came as a proposal from the Legislative Authority (Parliament and Shura Council) last year.

It will reduce traffic on the central junction, connecting Isa Town, Hamad Town, East Riffa, the Military Hospital and the University of Bahrain through the vital city of West Riffa.

The legislators also suggested relocating the monument to a nearby roundabout, further inside West Riffa.

The project is to be implemented by Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry, which stated earlier that it had coordinated with the related authorities to add more space to the roads connected to the junction, which include Riffa Avenue, Shaikh Salman and Wali Al Ahd Highways.

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