Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Essam bin Abdullah Khalaf, today issued an edict on reducing, dropping, or exempting from municipal fees for 156 Bahraini families living in rented houses for April and May this year.

The move is in line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to alleviate the burden of living on the citizens, and within the framework of the Cabinet’s decision to deal with the citizens who rent houses and home owners on equal par regarding municipal fees.

The minister said that the decisions are based on His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s constant keenness to provide decent living for all the citizens, through reduced municipal fees, exempting low-income citizens from paying fees in the future or dropping their unpaid debts.

Khalaf pointed out that municipal fees were reduced for 143 Bahraini families and dropped for 12 others for April and May, adding that one family was exempted from those fees during the same period.

The minister highlighted the on-going coordination between the Municipalities Affairs Department and the Customer Service Directorate at the Electricity and Water Authority to reduce the municipal fees in electricity and water bills for those families.

SOURCE: ALBILAD