Firm to review designs of Bahrain-Qatar Causeway

Suad Hamada (Bahrain Beat) / 3 November 2013

The board of directors of the Bahrain-Qatar Causeway Foundation during its meeting last week decided to assign a consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive review of the basic engineering designs of the project prepared so far so as to be ready at the time of its actual implementation.

Finance Ministry’s undersecretary and deputy chairman of the board of directors of the foundation Aref Saleh Khamis said the meeting touched upon administrative and regulatory issues regarding the work of the foundation since the beginning of the current fiscal year 2013. He also pointed out the executive board was tasked to prepare a comprehensive report on the project’s progress, work plan and the presumed completion date.

 

Bank wants engineers to put on creative cap

Eskan Bank officials, College of Engineering teachers and students urged to take part and win one of three awards

The Housing Bank (Eskan Bank) has launched its annual award for engineering creativity. The 2013 prize is being put under the inspiring slogan: ‘Social and Economic Sustainability in Housing Projects’.

Eskan Bank officials, College of Engineering teachers and students taking part in the competition attended the University of Bahrain (UoB) ceremony to launch the first edition of the award.

Eskan Bank general manager Dr Khalid Abdulla urged University of Bahrain and College of Engineering (Architecture) students to take part in the contest. He stressed Bahrain’s adopted policies which give priority to housing projects to ensure social stability and promote community development. He pointed out that the award would be put under an innovative theme every year in cooperation with the university.

The top three winners selected by the commissioned jury will be presented cash prizes and shields. The panel will include Eskan Bank engineers, College of Engineering teachers, in addition to member representing the Bahrain Society of Engineers.

 

Efforts to re-build houses of worship stepped up

The chairman of the board of directors of the Jaafari Endowments Directorate, Shaikh Mohsen Al Asfoor, asserted that the directorate was coordinating with the concerned sides at the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, among other relevant parties, to speed up the re-building of houses of worship and address the issue.

Al Asfoor affirmed that the Jaafari Endowments Directorate has, in coordination with other relevant sides, made remarkable progress regarding the rebuilding of the houses of worship and rectifying the status of illegal ones in a way that complies with the government’s priorities, especially concerning the implementation of the Royal directives, confirmed by the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission for Inquiry in this regard.

He pointed out that the Government of Bahrain had allocated a total of BD3,389,840 to complete the rebuilding of these houses of worship, as required by the Royal instructions, noting that the budget is independent and will not affect the building of other houses of worship projects across the kingdom.

He pointed out that coordination meetings with the concerned sides are constantly held in order to expedite the implementation process and finalise the issue by the end of 2014.

 

Strategic health priorities and challenges discussed

Bahrain’s delegation, led by Minister of Health Sadiq bin AbdulKareem Al Shehabi, discussed strategic health priorities and challenges in the region during the 60th session of the regional committee for Middle East countries in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, recently.

The delegation stressed Bahrain’s fight against incommunicable diseases among strategic health priorities with huge support from the kingdom’s political leadership, as manifested in the inclusion of preventative plans in Bahrain’s Vision 2030 and the formation of the National Committee on Incommunicable Disease Control led by the health minister since 2012.

The national working plan and its indicators have thoroughly been prepared by the official multi-disciplinary national committee in line with the new international working plan for prevention and control of incommunicable diseases 2013-2020.

shamada@khaleejtimes.com