Bahrain king ratifies law on GCC nationals' property ownership
Ownership permitted in areas delineated in kingdom's urban planning
Cairo: Bahrain's King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa has ratified and issued a law amending a 1999 law allowing nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to own constructed properties and land in the country, the Bahrain news agency BNA has reported.
According to the amendment, the GCC citizens are permitted, after the approval of the minister of justice and Islamic affairs, to own the properties and the land in the areas specified according to urban planning, through legal means or based on a will or inheritance.
This will be regulated by rules to be set by the Supreme Committee for Urban Planning and relevant decrees to be issued by the minister of justice and Islamic affairs, BNA said.
Bahrain's prime minister and government ministers, each in his jurisdiction, are tasked with implementing the provisions of the law that will take effect a day after its publication in the Official Gazette, the agency added.
The amended law has already been endorsed by the Shura Council and Council of Representatives, the two houses of the Bahraini parliament.
Besides Bahrain, the GCC comprises the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.