Shortage of funds to hit Municipal office project

Manama : Manama Municipal Council Chairman Mohammed Al Khozaee warned yesterday that fund shortage could jeopardise the timeline of its new centralised office project. 

The potential delay, according to the council, is due to lack of financial assistance. 

Construction is not expected to begin before the end of the current council’s term, but the cash crunch means “it would take longer”, Al Khozaee said.  

The new office is planned to be a centralised one with all its offices as well as government officials working under the same roof to better serve the needs of the public. 

“We have a plot but it is difficult to take the next step as we don’t have a budget for it,” Al Khozaee told DT News.   

“I don’t think we can start anything before the end of our term,” he said adding that a lot of work “needs to be done” to even start working with consultants. 

Although the capital generates over BD40 million a year, majority of it is transferred to the central fund.

In April, the Council’s Deputy Chairman Mazen Ahmed Al Umran told DT News that the pressure created by dwindling oil prices was the major reason for the delay. 

“We started in 2015 and not long after, the drop in oil prices took a toll on the economy. This means that we have now less money to play around,” Al Umran said.