BD25,000 gift for Samajam fund

THE Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam (BKS) has received a second BD25,000 gift towards its building fund, from a second UAE-based Indian business tycoon. NMC Group chairman and UAE Exchange Centre managing director Dr B R Shetty gave the money towards the construction of the samajam's new headquarters in Segaiya.

Emke Group managing director M A Yusuffali, who is also based in Abu Dhabi, earlier also contributed BD25,000 towards the project.

"We are extremely grateful to Dr Shetty, who has readily come forward to help our dream project," said samajam president G K Nair.

"The support from well-wishers has reached about BD130,000. Our members have raised BD30,000. However, we are still short of more than BD40,000 to complete the first phase of the project which is expected to cost BD200,000."

Dr Shetty, who is the winner of this year's Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest civilian honour to be given by the Indian government to a non-resident Indian, said he was proud to make this donation to the BKS.

"It is befitting for the samajam, established in 1947, to have its own headquarters," he told the GDN.

The new headquarters is a long cherished dream project for the samajam, said fund-raising committee chairman P V Radhakrishna Pillai.

Doha-based Behzad Group chairman and managing director C K Menon, and Saudi-based Nasser Al Hajri Corporation managing director Ravi Pillai donated BD10,000 each towards the building fund last year.

The civil work is being carried out by Wafeeq Civil Mechanical Contracting. The project has been designed by Mimar Architecture & Engineering and supervised by Global Consulting Bureau. Mr Nair said he expected the first phase of the project to be completed by August this year.