A highly-awaited BD10 million ($26.5 million) shopping mall in Malkiya, which had been in the pipeline for eight years, was opened to the public yesterday.

The Reef Mall will eventually create around 650 job opportunities for residents of Malkiya and neighbouring areas, who will also share up to 70 per cent of its proceeds, say officials.

It includes shopping outlets, a hypermarket, a food court and children's play areas.

The mall, on 5.4 hectares, also features a multi-purpose hall, an educational centre and a medical complex, in addition to a petrol station on the request of residents.

It will also have outdoor facilities for national celebrations and other occasions.

An opening ceremony was held yesterday under the patronage of Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife head Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, on behalf of His Majesty King Hamad.

Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Dr Juma Al Ka'abi said the mall was one of the most important projects to serve the residents of the areas surrounding it.

'His Majesty is keen to develop the area and which is why he ordered building the mall as a Royal gesture for the residents,' he said.

'The leadership's directives have helped eliminate obstacles that delayed the project and today's opening is a great evidence of hard work and dedication from all those involved.'

Plans for the mall were first announced in 2002 by His Majesty and intended to support residents in Buri, Al Hamala, Demistan, Karzakan, Saddad, Shahrakan, Dur Kulaib, Malkiya and Hamad Town.

However, it faced delays for around three years, allegedly due to a lack of co-ordination between the government organisations involved.

The Royal Court later intervened and handed responsibility over to the ministry, which is supervising it.

A board was also set up to represent the residents, headed by Northern Municipal Council chairman Yousif Al Boori.

It had difficulties at first selecting a company to run the mall, but later awarded the contract to a joint venture between two Bahraini businessmen and a Kuwaiti investor.

They formed independent company Reef Al Jazira, which arranged agreements with traders to have all shops in the mall before National Day celebrations, as the original plan was to have it open then.

Other setbacks included an announcement by the ministry of allocating two-thirds of the revenue for its projects and services.

This angered the board, which already promised allocating 70 per cent of the revenue for residents.

However, the ministry later said it had no intention to have the money for its coffers, it just had a list of plans to develop the villages in the area with the possible help of revenues from the mall.

The issue was settled in September last year and parties concerned agreed to co-ordinate on allocating the money, which helped put the project back on track.

It was hoped that out of the annual revenue, 70 per cent would be distributed to charity funds, clubs and community projects in the area.

Twenty pc would be deposited in a bank account as savings for emergencies, maintenance and future expansions, while 10pc would go to board members and administrative expenses.

Northern Municipality director-general Abdulkarim Hassan said the mall was a much-needed project for the governorate.

'This is not a regular development project as it comes as a token of love from His Majesty and its revenue will completely support the residents' needs,' he said.

'Thanks to the leadership's support we now have one of many projects that target the local community and help it develop.'

Al Boori said His Majesty's directives to have the mall run by the people showed the leadership's keenness to empower them.

'The mall will create up to 650 job opportunities for residents in surrounding villages and towns and that's really important considering that it would ensure the place would be protected since it is being run by those who own it,' he added.

The complex's hypermarket general manager Fawaz Al Deeb said they were looking to employ between 150 and 200 people.

Al Deeb said those selected for senior posts would be trained in Kuwait, where the company's head office is located.-TradeArabia News Service