All documents and approvals relating to projects listed in the GCC Support Programme are to be speeded up and their implementation is to be carried out immediately within a set time frame, said a senior government official.

Required budgets for such projects are available covering all sectors to meet citizens' housing, educational and health needs in particular, said Deputy Premier Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa at the ministerial services committee.

The first phase of housing projects includes construction of 8,160 units, of which 2,100 are in the Northern City, 4,500 in East Hidd and 1,560 in the Southern Governorate.

New projects in the education sector include Hunainiya Secondary School for Boys, Busaiteen Intermediate School, Isa Town Primary School for Boys, Hamad Town Intermediate School for Boys, Malkiya Primary and Intermediate School for Girls and a girls' school in Jaw.

The first phase also includes development of several main roads, including Alba-Nuwaidrat Interchange, Northern City Road, second bridge junction on Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway, the first phase of Muharraq circular road and the fourth phase of Tubli Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion.

Health projects include construction of hospitals for patients requiring longer stay, in Muharraq, particularly for polio patients and the handicapped in addition to a dialysis centre in the Southern Governorate.

The first phase also consists of vital projects in the electricity and water sector, including networks upgrade and construction of three new stations to meet increasing demand.

The meeting directed ministries to include in the GCC Support Programme second phase projects to develop villages and old areas across the country. – TradeArabia News Service