A long-awaited multimillion-dollar theme park in Muharraq that is set to feature Bahrain's first indoor ski slope has been hit by further delays.

The radical overhaul of Muharraq Grand Garden - which carries a BD20-million ($52.3 million) price tag and would also see an ice rink, indoor sports arena, aquatic museum, karting track and three-storey shopping centre, among other features - has struggled along despite resistance from municipal councillors and investors pulling out, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The latest stumbling block, as the GDN reported in January, was the discovery of key sewage and water infrastructure underneath the site that needed to be relocated before work could go ahead.

Work, which was due to start in February, was pushed back until April, and now it will not resume until next February, according to Muharraq Municipality director-general Saleh Al Fadhala.

"The investor can restart work in February, starting with removing the remaining infrastructure within days," he said.

"We are considering penalising the investor for breach of contract, but are more concerned about the delay at the moment," Al Fadhala added.

The project had already been plagued by delays when Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Dr Juma Al Ka'abi and Bahraini investor Fouad Shuwaitar signed an agreement in October 2013 to push work ahead.

Muharraq Municipal Council had earlier voted to axe the proposal, but made a U-turn when a new consortium came in to fund the development.

Councillors were initially hesitant to give Shuwaitar the go-ahead after a group of GCC partners withdrew from the project.

However, he later joined forces with the India-based company Golden Globe Trading and Consultancy Services.

Shuwaitar told the GDN that it was "not his fault" that the plot he received for development was not suitable.

"We started construction in April, but my workers soon uncovered major sewage, electricity and water networks," he said.

"The Electricity and Water Authority intervened quickly and diverted the electricity and water, but the Works Ministry is yet to show up. "It is not my fault that I was given an unsuitable plot to work and I shouldn't be penalised for the delay - I am the one who could be asking for compensation really, due to the condition of the place."

When the 93,618-sq-m park, near Bahrain International Airport, is redeveloped it iis expected to boast restaurants, a fitness club and gym, rides, a mosque and an old people's home, in addition to the other facilities.

Plans to turn the park into a miniature Disneyland were announced in 2007 but that project was later scrapped after the Kuwaiti investor asked to be relieved from his contractual obligations due to losses incurred in the global financial crisis. - TradeArabia News Service