The Bahrain Car Parks Company yesterday called on the government to build more car parks.

Company chairman Mahmood Mahmood Hussain said since the company only managed car parks and did not build them, there was nowhere else in Bahrain it could expand its business.

'We are managing the multi-storey facility in Manama and the Bahrain International Airport parking lot already but it is for the government to set up more facilities,' Hussain told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

Speaking on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting at its Manama offices, he said a 400-space multi-storey car park in the heart of Manama Suq, which has been ready for the last one year, was still waiting to open its gates.

'Even before the facility had been completed, we had given a proposal to the Municipal and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry to operate it,' he said.

'We never heard from them again.

'We have tried a few times to reach out and try and meet someone but it seems there is no interest,' he added.

He said he hoped there would soon be some progress in the matter.

'The proposal we had given was very competitive, so we should be allowed to run it. A parking lot in that area is very much needed.'

Hussain said the company had announced a 12 per cent dividend for its shareholders for 2010 despite the fact that it was not making money on the car parks alone.

'We make our money from the rentals of the main car parks building,' he said.

He said the profits from the airport car park are shared with the Bahrain Airport Company.

He said the company's operations have shown improvement with the net profit for 2010 being BD1.233 million ($3.2 million) as compared to BD1.051 million in 2009.

'The net profit comprises BD792,764 from operations compared to BD1.027 million in 2009 and investment income of BD479,574 compared to BD41,570 the year earlier.'-TradeArabia News Service