HRH Crown Prince Chairs EDB Meeting
His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Economic Development (EDB) Chairman today said that any successful housing project should comply with His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s aspirations of keeping the national economy stable and not letting the national capital pumped out of the kingdom in the midst of the current Global Financial Crisis. HRH Crown Prince was speaking as he chaired today, for the first time, EDB’s Executive Committee meeting which focused mainly on the housing projects in the kingdom.
“What matters most for us is the Bahraini citizen’s contentment and acceptance of any housing project,” HRH Prince Salman affirmed. During the meeting, the EDB Executive Committee approved the immediate freeze of the Smart Houses’ project as it does not comply with the needs of the Bahraini citizen and results in pumping the national capital out. HRH Crown Prince called for the creation of a national coalition between the public and the private sectors, reminding those present of his call, during his visit to the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry headquarters, to deepen the spirit of partnership between both sectors in the housing projects in particular.With the accord of the concerned Ministry, the Smart Houses Project was stopped in order to protect low-income people and preserve their revenues and expenditures, HRH Crown Prince added.
As a result, HRH Prince Salman called for the immediate planning of new appropriate housing patterns that would meet the satisfaction of the Bahraini citizen. Upon the request of the concerned ministry, HRH Crown Prince ordered the halt of the on-going plans and give the committee a two-week thinking period to come up with a new housing model that meets all demands. During the meeting, Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister gave a presentation about Bahrain Chamber for Economic, Financial and Investment Dispute Resolution.
