MANAMA — An Iranian private hospital might hit relations between Bahrain and Iran and lead to grilling of at least two ministers over its establishment process.
The government remains silent over rejection of application seeking licence for Milad hospital that was ready for operations eight months back. The hospital is a joint investment project between Bahraini and Iranian businessmen.
The issue surfaced after the last minute boycott of the Iranian delegation to the Manama Dialogue Summit held in Bahrain last week, as the Press linked it to the rejection of licence application by the hospital.
When the Press Coordinator of the Iranian Embassy Mohammed Safari was contacted by Khaleej Times, he refused to comment while the Ministry of Health also refused to give any reason for the rejection.
Sources said that the Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, contacted the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa asking him to intervene and solve the matter so the hospital could start its activities.
The matter took a new twist when MP Abdullah Al Dossary announced last week his plan to question the Minister of Municipalities and Agriculture Mansoor bin Rajab for investing in the hospital and being appointed as chairman of the project. The Bahraini laws ban ministers to have their own businesses.
Al Menber Islamic bloc (Group of conservative brotherhood MP) backed the questioning and said that the matter would be deliberated after Eid holiday. "We have supported the questioning after receiving some evidences of irregularities surrounding the hospital and the minister’s involvement in them," Vice-head of the bloc, Dr Ali Ahmed said. "We have documents highlighting financial violations related to the establishment of the hospital and they will be revealed at the right time."
Rajab is not the only minister to be dragged into the issue. The Salafist conservative MP Jassim Al Saidi plans to question the Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr Hassan Fakhro for issuing commercial registeration for the hospital despite the suspicions surrounding the project. "The government should be more careful when it comes to allowing foreigners to establish their businesses in Bahrain to avoid affecting the sustainable economic growth," Al Saidi said.
