Work is set to resume on a government housing project in Juffair which has been delayed for several months amid a dispute among government departments about who owned the land.

However, the number of apartments planned has been more than halved to 46.

The Housing Ministry was forced to halt construction in December after it discovered the plot had been registered in the name of the Energy Ministry.

Construction crews had already fenced off the location and bulldozed an abandoned US Navy Camp and several properties when the contractor hired by the Housing Ministry stopped work and removed its equipment.

Manama Municipal Council technical committee chairman and area councillor Hussain Qarqoor said the project had been halted because of misunderstanding between both ministries.

A total of 100 families were set to move into two new apartment buildings at the site, which were to be built in two phases.

Plans also included a new building for the Juffair Charitable Society and one for the Al Nasr Club, which was in line for an expansion.

'The Energy Ministry thought that it had the housing project's land under its complete control, but it didn't, as the Housing Ministry continued to own the other half,' he said.

'The land will now have two projects - an electricity power plant and 46 apartments instead of 100.'

Qarqoor said it would be difficult to explain to residents that more than half of the promised government homes had gone.

'I can't understand why from all the land in Juffair, the Energy Ministry has set its eyes on the only place a government housing project could be carried out,' he said.

'It is very stressful for residents to learn that they will have to further wait because the government decided to take more than half from their land to have an electricity power plant, which could have been built anywhere.'

Qarqoor said councillors would continue to lobby the Housing Ministry to put pressure on the Electricity Ministry to set up the power plant in another area.

The location of the housing project had already changed several times before His Majesty King Hamad earmarked land for it in February 2010 after meeting Juffair's community leaders.

He also agreed the government would buy dilapidated homes from people in the area so they could move out - allowing work to start on the apartment blocks.

Residents refused to leave until early last year, but finally agreed to sell. Officials from Housing and Energy ministries were not available for comment.-TradeArabia News Service