US$39m boost for social care

Manama : Bahrain yesterday signed two agreement worth US$39 million with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to finance social care projects here. 

Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, the Minister of Finance, and Abdulwahab A. Al Bader, Director General of the Fund signed the agreements on the sidelines of the Joint Meetings of the Arab Financial Institutions in Rabat, Morocco. 

The first agreement provides $19m to finance the Social Welfare Complex at Hamad Town, which comprises 4 social care centres and aims to provide succour and shelter to target groups.

A $20m Comprehensive Social Services Complex at Isa Town will be financed through the second agreement. The project aims to improve the quality of social services provided to people with special needs and the elderly, as well as raising awareness among citizens on how to deal with people belonging to these two categories.

The agreements represent the final portion of Kuwait’s $2.5 billion grant to Bahrain within the Gulf Development Programme. Allocations in this respect included $996m for housing projects, Electricity & Water ($940m), Roads ($334m), Sewerage ($136m), Social Development ($62m), and Industry ($32m).