Industrial plot violations fall 69pc
Manama : The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism yesterday said that rule violations by industrial plot owners had been reduced by 69 per cent in year 2016 as compared to 2015, thanks to increased focus on the development of the industrial sector.
The irregularities were primarily related to non-payment of rent, subcontracting, activities infringing the lease agreement, expired lease contract, poor waste management etc.
In a report summarizing the year 2016, the Ministry stated that 73 such irregularities in industrial plots were found in 2016 while more than double was found during 2015. The ministry conducted 1,612 inspection visits to industrial plots in 2015 compared with 1,426 in 2016.
“Legal action was taken against companies that were previously warned,” the Ministry stated.
“The industrial areas could be a key sector for Bahrain as the Ministry attempts to bolster it. With a number of measures being taken by the Ministry to improve it, the industrial sector showed signs of improvement last year and the Ministry expects the sector to be a stronger contributor to the national economy in the coming years. Improving the export of Bahraini products will be a priority this year,” the Ministry stated.
Explaining the measures taken for the industrial sector, the Ministry stated that it prepared new criteria to evaluate requests for industrial land.
Elaborating on this, Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani said, “We changed our industrial land allocation system, previously land used to be allocated to individuals or companies but now they are allocated to projects. In the past it used to be that land was allocated to them and they decide what to do with it later, but now they need to tell us exactly what project they have in mind and we allocate the land based on our evaluation,” he said.
He also emphasized how the Ministry sees the sector as a priority. “The Industry is another sector we are pushing, this is not just for the sake of industry but for the sake of creating jobs and for the sake of increasing exports. We want to have Bahraini products going around the world. That is why we are working with EDB and BDB to start an export development center,” he said, adding, “our aim was to enhance the level of service within the Ministry and we have come a long way in doing so. We could not have done it without the support of the leadership. Every new product or services or technology we push out, was sponsored and approved by the leadership, we are very grateful for their support,” the minister said.
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