first truck park of its kind in Qatar and the Middle East accommodating 4,200 trucks

integrated parking includes technical inspection center for trucks and vehicles, diesel patrol station, exhibition halls and vehicle auction

state-of-the-art security control systems

Doha - Qatar, January 27 2009: BARWA Al Baraha, a subsidiary of BARWA Real Estate Company, has inaugurated the world's largest truck park and the first of its kind in Qatar and the Middle East, in a press conference at the project site in the Industrial Area today. Mr. Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad, Chairman and Managing Director of BARWA Real Estate Company, government dignitaries and senior executives of BARWA and its subsidiaries attended the event.

BARWA Al Baraha project is BARWA's innovative solution to address one of the challenges posed by Qatar's current economic boom: "BARWA has a vision based on the concept of comprehensive development and wishes to play a vital role in the growth of our precious country Qatar. That's why Barwa Al Baraha was derived from the inherent values of Qatari society, who consider hospitality of the guest to be of the highest importance. There is no doubt that today's expatriate workers have become an essential part of our society, especially during the unprecedented prosperity of the Qatari economy. There is no doubt that their importance is steadily increasing in line with development and urban growth. The workers now building Qatar deserve our best welcome and a decent living environment. Hence was born the idea of Barwa Al Baraha," says Al Saad.

BARWA Real Estate's commitment to people embraces all levels of society, as BARWA believes providing a comfortable living environment for workers increases their potential productivity and motivation. BARWA Al Baraha is a tribute to the hard work of all blue collar workers constructing roads and raising buildings in Qatar.

BARWA Al Baraha is a master planned, integrated labor city offering every residential facility needed by truck drivers and laborers. In addition BARWA Al Baraha will help reduce the traffic congestion caused by trucks parking on Doha roadsides, as well as providing security and safety through specially designed truck parking that meets international standards.

Mr. Ibrahim Fakhroo, CEO of BARWA Al Baraha said: "The cost of BARWA Al Baraha, the first of its kind in Qatar and the Middle East, is approximately QR 600 million. The total area of the park is 675,878 sq. meters and provides a total capacity of 4,200 truck parking spaces, making it the biggest in the world. The previous largest truck park, Iowa 80 in the American state of Iowa, accommodates just 800 trucks".

In addition, BARWA Al Baraha boasts eight truck entrances and 12 exits, ensuring easy access into and out of the truck park, with special spaces allocated for long and short-term stays. Within the project, a 16,000 sq meter diesel station has been built to serve visitors and the surrounding areas, alongside a 4,500 sq m Technical Inspection Center. BARWA Al Baraha is equipped with state-of-art technology for 24-hour security control, operated by advanced systems to control truck parking allocation and collect charges.

"Designed to accommodate 53,000 workers, BARWA Al Baraha is located in Doha's Industrial Area and will be constructed in two phases.  Phase 1 constructing the truck parking and services; Phase 2 will see QR3.4 billion invested in building labor accommodation. The labor accommodation comprises 64 buildings, with each building consisting of four floors with 130 rooms in each. Buildings are distributed in four blocks, each of which contains 16 buildings in addition to service facilities and green spaces. The total area allocated for the four blocks is 252.050 sq m, while the total area is 455.872 sq m accommodating 50,000 workers, making it the largest labor camp ever built in Qatar and the GCC to the highest international standards," said Eng. Mohammed Al Emadi, Project Manager, BARWA Al Baraha.

Labor accommodation includes all facilities necessary for the comfort of tenants, with eight dining halls to provide three daily meals with a variety of food choices according to the worker's different cultures. BARWA Al Baraha also includes other essential services such as a central laundry, 48 commercial shops in each block and public & green spaces with a total area of 32.500 sq m including mosque, football, basketball and volleyball pitches.

BARWA Al Baraha's Employees Compound consists of 16 buildings each accommodating 3,000 workers in 97 rooms spread over three floors. Total built up area is 91.500 sq m, while the total constructed area is 65,744 sq m. Employee Compound buildings are surrounded by green gardens, dining halls and sports facilities.

BARWA Al Baraha features a unique used vehicle showrooms and auction area. Each showroom is composed of a ground floor with space for displaying 49 vehicles plus two administration floors above covering 60,000 sq m. These showrooms aim at facilitating selling and purchase of used cars and vehicle spare parts. This component of the project offers a 14,000 sq m auction area, in addition to a number of showrooms for used vehicles and trucks.  There is a 21.250 sq m area designed for specialized truck and vehicle maintenance workshops, while a 11.636 sq m area has been allocated for mixed-use storages.

Extending to an area of 23.200 sq m, the project's shopping center includes supermarket, 46 shops on two floors with a total built-up area of 16.925 sq m and 3 movie theaters showing the latest movies. BARWA Al Baraha shopping center removes the need to travel into Doha for shopping, thereby reducing traffic, fuel consumption and parking problems by providing all these services in one location.

A 38,772 sq m central administrative building is located near the main road and includes 39 office units arranged on 3 floors with a total built-up area of 16.423 sq m. A medical center, built over a total area of 10.951 sq m, provides basic health care for drivers and tenants in the surrounding areas. The medical center enjoys easy access from different ways and has an emergency unit for urgent cases. Special coordination with official authorities means BARWA Al Baraha has its own police department, civil defense and fire fighting units, alongside a 10,951 sq m health club.

Covering a total area of 15.545, sq m, a three-storey hotel is designed. The 130-room hotel features café and terrace, offering an ideal solution for employees to bring their families for vacation. The hotel will also accommodate workers recently arrived in Qatar who are awaiting their residency procedures to be completed. Located on the main front of the project, along Doha Causeway, the hotel enjoys a unique location that enables it to service the project and surrounding areas.

BARWA Al Baraha provides every means comfort for tenants including the main leisure and entertainment facilities. Extending to 10,000 sq m and including a two screen cinema, bowling and billiard halls plus a 40,000 sq m cricket pitch serving residents of the project and surrounding areas.

"The project offers a good number of services such as security which has been contracted to a specialist company which will supply security guards, state-of-the-art security surveillance systems. Cleanliness services have also been awarded to another specialist company to provide manpower to maintain cleanliness in the project. Transport is provided to transfer drivers to and from the nearest public transport in the Industrial Area. Furthermore, Barwa Al Baraha offers mobile quick maintenance services including oil change, tire repair and vehicle electricity maintenance. To streamline operations, BARWA Al Baraha offers payment in advance through special automatic payment booths located throughout the park. In addition, the park's administration intends to provide more services before the end of the year such as workshops, general maintenance, truck washing, diesel and petrol stations," said Mr. Saleh Al Sulaiti, Operations Manager, BARWA Al Baraha.

To ensure fluent entry and exit to and from BARWA Al Baraha, BARWA Al Baraha Truck Park provides receptionists and cashiers on the entry and exit gates to do the needed actions and to collect fees. In the same context, a state-of-the-art automatic system has been implemented on all entry and exit gates. The advanced system reads plate numbers and determines the vehicle size for charging and allocating parking, and then it allocates the appropriate color to identify the vehicle and the charge.

Testimony to the success of BARWA is the size and number of development projects being implemented on behalf of BARWA inside and outside Qatar. Projects inside Qatar include BARWA Al Baraha, BARWA Doha, BARWA City, BARWA Commercial Avenue, BARWA Al Khor, BARWA Al Rayyan and BARWA Financial District.

International projects are spread in different regions worldwide and include Somerset Alfateh (Bahrain), Somerset Corniche Project (Doha), Ajman Towers (UAE), New Cairo (Egypt), the Four Points in Paris (France) and Istanbul Sea Gate (Turkey).

-Ends- 
 
About BARWA Al Baraha:
BARWA Al Baraha project, which lies in the heart of the industrial area, is a residential compound for workers in which all support facilities services needed in such big complexes are available. The total capacity accommodates fifty three thousand people, in addition to parking for four thousands and two hundred Trucks. The project includes several distinguished and well planned facilities to serve the administrative and hotel buildings, shopping center, medical center and cinema. 

About BARWA:
BARWA is one of the premier organizations in the State of Qatar. As the name "BARWA" or "Contractual Commitment" suggests, we are inspired by our vision of a glowing future for Qatar.

With business interests in real estate & project development, property & facility management, construction material production, environmental activities & health, banking & finance, hotels & resorts, technology & utilities, education,  communications and agriculture, BARWA is driven by the conviction that people deserve a comfortable living and working environment.

With extensive operations in Qatar and around the world, we believe that every BARWA project is the seed for an incredible journey, where our greatest achievement is realizing the dreams of our stakeholders.

www.barwa.com.qa

For further information, kindly contact:
Bassel Hanbali - Chief Communications Officer - BARWA
Mobile: +974 654 2099
Email: bassel.hanbali@barwa.com.qa

© Press Release 2009