BD21m Ahlia University campus planned

[abdulla]

A NEW BD21 million campus will be built by Ahlia University on one of the islands of the new Northern Town, it has been revealed.
The first batch of 2,500 students will move to the new campus within three years, university president Dr Abdulla Al Hawaj told the GDN.
"The university board, chaired by Farouk Almoayyed, approved the plan for building its own campus," he said.
"Under the plan, the first phase costing BD7m, will be completed in 2010.
"The second phase will be completed by February 2012 when the university will have on its rolls 5,000 students.
"The final phase, when completed in 2014, will accommodate a total of 7,500 students."
The holding company of the university is the Arab Academy for Science and Research.
A general assembly of the shareholders will be held next month to seek approval for doubling the current paid-up capital of BD1.8m, said Dr Al Hawaj.
The university is currently run at the General Organisation for Social Insurance complex, Hoora and has on its rolls 1,200 students.
"We are confident to go for the first phase of construction of the new campus without borrowing money from financial institutions," said Dr Al Hawaj.
Ahlia has four colleges - College of Arts and Fine Arts, College of Business and Finance, College of Mathematical Science and IT, and College of Medical and Health Sciences. The university has affiliations with Brunel University, UK, and the University of Wisconsin, US.
"We shall start a Bachelor's course in paramedics in September this year, and add a College of Engineering Management by September next year," Dr Al Hawaj revealed.
The BD1 billion Northern Town off the coast of Duraz will be built in an area of 740 hectares and is divided into 14 islands. The target is to provide 15,000 government houses by 2016.
Construction work on 1,500 houses is expected to begin this year when reclamation work is completed on the two islands closest to the mainland.
The town, which has three lagoons, will include state-of-the-art transportation facilities such as a train network and ferries, nine youth centres, a modern sports club, stadium, twenty kindergartens, 12 primary schools, six intermediate schools, five secondary schools, four libraries and a large multi-purpose community hall.

source: Gulf Daily News