27 February 2022
The Bahrain Culture Authority and the Ministry of Works Sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to revamp Manama Municipality Building, H.E: The building embodies the collective memory of the city that we seek to register on UNESCO World Heritage List
The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, represented by H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of the Culture Authority, and the Ministry of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning, represented by represented by His Excellency Engineer Essam Khalaf, Minister of Works, signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU), on 27 February 2022. The aim of this Memo is to revamp, restore and rehabilitate the historical Manama Municipality Building.
Indeed, This MoU comes as part of the continuous and constant cooperation between the BACA and the Ministry of Works in order to upgrade the cultural infrastructure of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the various cities of Bahrain, and to enhance the status of Bahrain's historical cities, especially the two cities of Manama and Muharraq.
H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, speaking for the occasion, said: "We are happy with this great step that contributes to our vision to celebrate more than one hundred years of municipal work in the Kingdom of Bahrain, initiated from the city of Manama, a pioneering initiative in the whole Gulf region”. H.E asserted that restoring the original architectural and urban aspects of the Manama municipality building would help document and preserve the civilizational and urban memory of the historic Manama, something that BACA is working towards the inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, H.E added.
H.E praised the excellent and permanent cooperation between the Culture Authority and the Ministry of Works in the implementation of many urban projects that have certainly enhanced the cultural infrastructure in the Kingdom, expressing thanks to His Excellency Engineer Essam Khalaf for his support of the Manama Municipality restoration project.
The Memorandum of Understanding focuses on revamping, restoring and rehabilitating the Manama municipality building and returning it to its original form. BACA will develop the restoration work of the building in accordance with the original urban features and commission a specialized engineering team and designers in coordination with the ministry. According to the MoU agreement clauses, the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities will develop the restoration work of the building in accordance with its original urban characteristics, in addition to appointing the specialized engineering team and designers in coordination with the Ministry of Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning. The drive is part of continued cooperation to upgrade Bahrain’s cultural infrastructure countrywide and promote historic cities.
For his part, His Excellency Engineer Essam Khalaf stressed the importance of signing the Memorandum of Understanding, noting that it will contribute to strengthening efforts to restore the building. In addition, the Minister of Works highlighted the fruitful cooperation with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, yielding many constructive results, as reflected by conservation and urban projects that upgrade Bahrain’s cities and their urban features and enhance its civilizational status among the countries of the world.
Worth to mention that the Municipal work was established in Manama in 1919 and its establishment was a breakthrough for the formation of government departments and their governing systems in Bahrain. The Manama Municipality was the first municipality in the Arabian Gulf region and the third in the Arab world. Late Shaikh Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa was the first to chair the municipality, which had an eight-member council appointed by the Government, before it was expanded to include 24 members, some of whom are elected for the first time in the region.
On the sidelines of the signing of the memorandum of understanding, H.E Sheikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa and His Excellency Eng. Essam Khalaf discussed a number of issues of common interest and joint projects between the two sides in the cities of Manama and Muharraq.
