Amna bint Ahmed Al Romaihi, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, has asserted that the policies adopted by the government regarding the diversification of housing options for the citizens, through the Housing Financing Programme and the Government Land Development Programme, aim to provide an innovative and sustainable housing system capable of keeping pace with population growth and accommodating the increasing annual number of housing applications.
She also affirmed that the social housing sector is one of the most prominent components of the social welfare system in the kingdom.
The minister made the statements during a ministerial panel discussion held on the sidelines of her participation in the Fifth Budapest Demographic Summit (BDS) in Hungary, deputised by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Addressing the panel, Al Romaihi reviewed the kingdom’s efforts to deliver social support services to Bahraini families, including the provision of housing services to low-income citizens.
She indicated that the newly introduced housing schemes aim to provide fast services through diversified and flexible financing solutions that enable the citizens to choose the type, size and location of their housing services.
She also highlighted the projects provided by the Housing and Urban Development Ministry in partnership with the private sector through the Government Land Development Programme, which has contributed to increasing the supply of housing units at prices commensurate with the value of the financing granted to the citizens, noting that the projects provided through this programme, along with those offered by real estate development companies, increase the number of units, land lots and flats offered for those seeking housing services.
She noted that in addition to the diversified housing options offered for the citizens, the government is constructing five housing towns, with advanced infrastructure and integrated social, educational and health facilities that ensure the requirements of decent life for their dwellers and visitors.
She indicated that since the 1960s, over 160,000 housing services have been provided to low-income citizens from various social groups, including needy families, divorced women, widows with minor children, and orphaned, abandoned, or single women, noting that more than 5,000 Bahraini women have benefited from housing services, which confirms the all-inclusiveness of the housing support directed to citizens with limited income.
Minister Al-Romaihi also reviewed the government’s success in implementing HM the King’s directives to construct 40,000 housing units, which adds a new milestone to the achievements of the social housing sector, under the kingdom’s comprehensive development process.
She affirmed that the results of the recent fast housing services, provided through the Housing Financing Programme and the Government Land Development Programme have exceeded expectations, as thousands of services have been provided in just one year.
She added that efforts to deliver housing services to the citizens will continue unabated following the government’s allocation of the largest budget for social housing for 2023-2024, amounting to $1.6 billion, in addition to granting private sector companies a greater role in providing housing services to the citizens.
Ministers from Hungary, Serbia, Türkiye, Qatar, UAE, Tunisia, Ecuador, Kazakhstan and Slovenia participated in the panel discussion.
Source: Bahrain News Agency