Barwa project first phase to house 24,000 workers

By Ayman Adly  & Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporters

He said that the Barwa Al Baraha extends over approximately 1.8mn square metres, with a total planned capacity of providing accommodation to 53,000 workers. Some 32 residential buildings, which can house 24,000 workers will be ready in six months, he said. 

Addressing the media during the site visit of  HE Dr Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs to the Barwa Al Baraha (Workers’ City) project in Industrial Area, he said that although work was still on going at Al Baraha, already a lot of companies were showing interest in booking the accommodation for their workers.

“We have an MoU with Qatar Navigation, while other companies such as Qatar Airways, Qatari Diar and QDVC have shown interest and some have also visited our facilities,” he added.

He said that the project was meeting its deadlines as expected and all facilities such as banks, utility stores, and recreational areas would be made available to the workers.

Engineer Abdulla Abdulaziz AlSubaie, CEO of Barwa Real Estate and Engineer Ahmad Abdulla al-Abdulla, Deputy CEO of Barwa Real Estate, accompanied HE Dr al-Khulaifi during the visit which shed light on the progress made in the project.

The visit started with a welcoming speech and a presentation by Hiji, followed by a tour around the project for the VIPs, media and the other guests.

Barwa Al Baraha is the largest developmental project Barwa has ever constructed for workers in Qatar.

According to a statement issued by Barwa, the project was a “commitment towards building a solid society where its different social categories live in harmony, achieved by shrinking the social differences and raising the standards of living for those with small  income.”

The project is being developed in two phases. Phase one is already complete and provides Qatar with the largest truck and vehicle parking space, comprising 4,200 parking spaces for heavy vehicles of different sizes.

The fees for the parking will be QR15 per exit. Discounts will be provided to those with monthly subscriptions with the first six months offered for free.

The second phase of Barwa Al Baraha offers workers accommodation, as it provides 64 residential buildings for workers, each with 130 rooms.

“Each room has been designed to accommodate six persons, but if new rules say that there should be four persons per room then that too can be followed,” the engineer said.

The project will eventually also provide 16 residential buildings for junior and senior staff, each comprising 97 rooms.

Sport facilities, shopping malls, restaurants, medical centre and public spaces are also part of the project.

“Barwa Real Estate fosters the philosophy of community integration, which has drawn the guidelines according to which the group selects development opportunities, illustrating an investment beyond real estate.