Engineer Bassem bin Yaqoub Al-Hamr, Minister of Housing, raised the highest verses of gratitude and gratitude to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the beloved King of the country, may God preserve and protect him for His Majesty's continuous care of the social housing file in the Kingdom, stressing that His Majesty is the first supporter of housing gains that have been achieved during the past years Thanks to the priority given to housing matters in the comprehensive development process led by His Majesty, may God protect him.
On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the Ministry of Housing, which falls on the twenty-second of September, the Minister of Housing said that the housing file in the Kingdom was and continues to be at the top of the priorities of the esteemed government programs headed by His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the distinguished Prime Minister, and is receiving continuous follow-up. From His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, noting that the government's interest in the housing sector is translated by the bright milestones of the housing process that began since the issuance of Resolution No. 2 Financial in 1962 establishing the Housing and Ownership Committee, Through the establishment of projects in Isa Town, Hamad Town and Zayed City, and dozens of residential complex projects that included all regions and villages of the Kingdom.
Engineer Al-Hamar emphasized that the establishment of the Ministry of Housing in 1975 according to Emiri Decree No. (18) represented turning points in the housing process that began in the early sixties of the last century, as he entrusted the ministry with the responsibilities of organizing housing affairs in terms of the diversity of services provided by the esteemed government to citizens, and setting City implementation plans and housing projects, based on the leadership’s keenness to provide adequate housing for citizens and ensure decent livelihoods for them.
He added that the royal sponsorship of the housing file continued to include the achievements of the modern era, which was the starting point for the issuance of the royal decree of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the beloved king of the country, may God preserve and sponsor him, to build 40,000 housing units, which is the supreme order whose implementation plan witnessed the provision of The construction of 5 housing cities are the cities of “Salman, Khalifa, Sharq al-Hadd, East Sitra, and the suburb of Ramli,” which represent the main pillar of the previous and current government program to provide thousands of housing services to citizens, as well as the esteemed government's sponsorship of partnership initiatives with the private sector that the Kingdom has witnessed during the last decade, which contributed To fulfill thousands of housing requests.
The minister said that the volume of housing spending allocated by the esteemed government over 5 decades from the state’s general budget and the share of the social housing sector in the Gulf Development Program has reached 4 billion Bahraini dinars, which has contributed to meeting about 140,000 housing requests so far, which reflects the care that It is enjoyed by the housing sector in the Kingdom.
Al-Hamr pointed out that the housing process has witnessed many transformations over the past decades, and the salient feature of those transformations has been the endeavors to diversify housing options for citizens, by diversifying housing finance services and providing residential plots, units and apartments services, as well as increasing the implementation rates of housing projects, whether on At the level of cities, compounds, or villages extension projects, with the aim of reaching housing services to the various regions of the Kingdom, noting also that the changes have witnessed the development of housing policies and legislation to expand the base of beneficiaries of housing services provided by the Kingdom to people with limited income.
The Minister of Housing said that the housing gains achieved by the esteemed government through the Ministry of Housing in recent years reflect the increasing interest in this file in light of the challenges that the modern era is witnessing, and among the most prominent of these gains is the implementation of the first stages of projects in the new Bahrain cities, namely the cities of Salman, Khalifa, East Al-Hadd and the suburb of Ramli. And the initiation of housing citizens there, in addition to implementing dozens of housing complex projects in various governorates and villages of the Kingdom.
The minister noted that the interest of the wise leadership and the esteemed government was not limited to building projects and housing citizens in them, but extended to include the establishment of new cities and projects of modern complexes on foundations that ensure the quality of life for the citizen, through the interest in cosmetic aspects such as providing coasts, sea fronts and afforestation, as well as On the provision of educational, health, commercial and sports facilities and places of worship in the general plans of any project that is implemented, and these ideas are currently embodied in the new cities of Bahrain.
In this regard, the minister referred to the governmental interest in the importance of sustainability in implementing its development projects in general and housing projects in particular in line with the eleventh goal of the sustainable development goals related to building sustainable and safe cities, stressing that all Bahrain cities that were built by the Ministry of Housing were not limited to building housing units. Not only, but also included all service, educational, health, commercial and sports facilities, with attention to the environmental aspect as well. The overarching goal is to build new societies that provide a quality of life for the honorable citizen, noting the international praises that the Kingdom has received on this particular axis, and that the witness to this is the granting of the United Nations His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Honorable Prime Minister, may God preserve him, received the Honor Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Housing and Human Settlements in 2006.
On the level of initiatives and diversification of options, Eng. Al-Hamr talked about the axis of partnership with the private sector, which witnessed the launch of many of his initiatives that greatly contributed to accelerating the pace of meeting housing demands, and his contribution by more than 12.5% in meeting housing demands, indicating that this axis has This program succeeded in achieving two goals, the first being to accommodate requests
