The Multitasking Dhahrani

If there ever was a time for the Tim Allen grunt, this is most definitely it!

$9.5m mosque reconstruction deal is signed

Posted on » Thursday, December 29, 2011

Khalifa Aldhahrani striking a pose
A CONTRACT to rebuild the $9.5 million (BD3.6m) King Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Mosque on a 10,000sqm plot in Umm Al Hassam was signed yesterday at the Saudi Embassy in Bahrain.

Saudi Ambassador Abdul Mohsen bin Fahad Al Mark said the project reflects outstanding Bahrain-Saudi ties, strengthened thanks to the directives of the two countries’ wise leaderships.

He also praised the efforts of His Majesty King Hamad and the government to provide facilities for the project reflecting Saudi Arabia’s dedication in the service of Islam and Muslims.

He also reiterated Saudi Arabia’s keen interest to project the real image of Islam, as a religion of tolerance.

On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Saudi Finance Ministry’s Ali Al Salman said his ministry would cover the costs of the reconstruction.

Work started yesterday and will last for 20 months. [GDN]

What the local rag conveniently does not mention, and is mentioned in Al-Wasat is that the company which has won that huge contract is none other than the one owned, actively managed and overseen by the effervescent three-time parliamentary speaker Khalifa Aldhahrani!

How the (*)^(*^%&($&(%*( is that not a conflict of interest?

Oh, sorry, that could be a reward for loyalty? Or maybe the contract is fairly won? Who were the competitors and where was this bid announced for general participation? nine point five million smackeroos! Just like that!

Now that’s a Bahraini success story isn’t it?

Just for the record, here are the parliamentarian’s responsibilities as outlined in the Parliamentary Bylaws as well as the chairman’s responsibilities [Arabic].

How Dhahrani’s personal representation in this deal (and others I’m sure) is not a slap in every single citizen’s face, is way beyond me. And I have no doubt that he’ll be “elected” again and again to continue to fill that seat until the day he finally dies.

Comments

  1. Sardin

    Though this project clearly has other reasons for being undertaken, namely to show Saudi dominance and to fatten our wonderful speaker of parliament’s already fat wallet, more generally, I never understood the need to spend millions on mosques. If a fraction of that money were spent on education, we would probably be better off.

  2. Steve the American

    “He also reiterated Saudi Arabia’s keen interest to project the real image of Islam, as a religion of tolerance.”

    Perhaps the best way for Saudi Arabia to project an image of Islam as a religion of tolerance is to stop promoting terror attacks that butcher people. The Saudis might recall those textbooks in their religious schools here that teach Muslim kids that it’s OK to hurt non-Muslims, among other evil things. Perhaps they could have their Wahhabi clergy rescind the fatwa approving the atomic bombing of America. Or maybe they could remove conquering the world by violent jihad as one of the curriculum goals in their schools.

    I can do this all day.

  3. Wayne Job

    The Saudi’s spending religious dollars in your country may end as a sword of damocles hanging over your head. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts comes to mind. They at best fair weather friends and dangerous in their religiosity. It is petro dollars that fuel the crazies in Wahhabi extremism that causes pain over the entire world.

  4. Anonny

    In that photo he wears the expression my cat used to assume after I’d tapped him hard on the noses for pooping outside of his sandbox.

  5. Anonny

    In that photo he wears the expression my cat used to assume after I’d tapped him hard on the nose for pooping outside of his sandbox.

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