New investors will be roped in for a multi-million-dinar Bahrain project on the coast of Muharraq, after the original developers walked out.

Plans for Al Ghous Corniche, which were initially spearheaded by a consortium of Turkish, Saudi Arabian and local businessmen, included a BD25-million ($65.8 million) marina project that would have featured a resort, shopping mall, indoor and outdoor theme parks, a jetty for fishermen and an open beach, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The project was approved in 2012 by former Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Dr Juma Al Ka’abi, who said the northern part of the coast was registered as government property with another body that had to be transferred to the ministry for the development to go ahead.

However, a dispute over the ownership of the land caused massive delays, prompting the investors to abandon the project.

The Muharraq Municipal Council now wants to revive the project earmarked on the coast between the Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Causeway and the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Causeway, which link Manama and Muharraq.

“I don’t know what went wrong that investors withdrew from the project – there are different explanations, but we have a situation in which there is an interesting location that needs development,” said council chairman Mohammed Al Sinan.

“An investment worth BD25 million ($65.8 million) has been lost and it has to be matched one way or another, and the door is now open for interested investors not just from Bahrain, but all around the world.

“We are keen on developing Al Ghous Corniche, but it has to be innovative and must follow the same concept as the original plan.

“It is a huge site and we don’t have the required financing for it, within the national budget, to create a recreational family destination and hopefully that would be taken care of by an investor, who will be obliged to allocate a percentage for the public,” he added.

The GDN earlier reported that the ministry completed the first phase of the redevelopment nine years ago, setting up children’s rides and other family recreational facilities at a cost of BD700,000 ($1.86 million).

It had planned a BD2-million ($5.3 million) second phase including a restaurant complex and other maritime facilities, but work never started.

Land earmarked for the second phase was then set aside for the new King Hamad Grand Mosque, but the council and area MPs managed to get it back. - TradeArabia News Service