Bahraini economists and lawmakers told Al-Shorfa that the Gulf Development Programme (GDP), also known as the “GCC Marshall Plan”, can help Bahrain meet its current development needs.
Gulf Co-operation Council members set up the programme in March 2011, pledging to allocate $10 billion to finance development projects in Bahrain over 10 years.
As part of this pledge, officials from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development on September 3rd of this year signed a framework agreement with Bahrain granting the kingdom $2.5 billion to be paid out in $250 million annual instalments.
Bahrain recently unveiled a package of projects to be funded through the GDP, including housing projects that will use 45% of support funds.
Housing ‘a very appropriate priority’
Dr. Abdul Aziz Abel, a member of the Shura Council’s financial and economic affairs committee, told Al-Shorfa the GDP funds “came at a sensitive time under extraordinary circumstances of instability marked by the political events that rocked Bahrain last year”.
Allocating 45% of GCC support funds for housing projects is a “very appropriate priority”, he added.
“The government will inject the rest of the funds into infrastructure projects, such as health, education, public works and transport [projects],” Abel said. “However, it is up to donor countries to approve Bahrain’s development priorities.”
Officials said the GDP funds could help build 2,100 housing units and infrastructure works on Island 14 in the Northern City, 4,500 housing units and infrastructure works east of al-Hadd, fund the construction of a road that leads to the Northern City and help upgrade Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah Street.
These funds could also help expand the Tubli wastewater treatment plant, fund two electricity transmission networks, establish the Bahrain Comprehensive Care and Rehabilitation Centre in the Ali district, build a social welfare complex in Madinat Issa and support infrastructure projects in Salman Industrial City.
According to Abel, Bahrain’s House of Representatives has been tasked with providing oversight for the programme, as well as monitoring the progress of project implementation and the fairness of the construction tendering process.
Housing is a critical priority, said Abdul Hakim al-Shammary, another committee member.
The issue is “a source of worry not only for citizens but for the government as well, because housing means stability and growth to many”, he said. “A homeless family is not able to enjoy stability or develop its family members’ educational and career path.”
Solving the housing problem with the help of the private sector will save the government from shouldering the enormous financial burden of housing these families, al-Shammary added.
“Infrastructure and building vital ministerial facilities are of utmost importance in my opinion, given the kingdom’s population growth and the multi-fold increase in the number of vehicles,” he said.
There is also a need to develop and regulate the public transport sector so citizens can benefit from it, he added.
Dr. Ahmed al-Youshaa, a board member of the Bahrain Economic Society, also said housing is a top priority for the programme’s project list.
“[Allocating] 45% is reasonable for solving the most problematic issue concerning government services, namely housing,” he said. “We are not facing shortages of hospitals, schools or sewage systems, while housing remains the most pressing issue, [especially because] the housing situation deteriorated very rapidly.”
The Bahraini parliament is able to take responsibility for programme oversight, he added.