Work on the first phase of a new BD21-million ($55.6 million) campus for Ahlia University is to start in August, it was revealed.

The first batch of 2,500 students will move to the new campus - being built on one of the islands of the new Northern Town - by 2010, said university president Dr Abdulla Al Hawaj.

The first phase construction is expected to cost BD8 million. "The second phase will be completed by February 2012 when the university will have on its rolls 5,000 students."

"The final phase, when completed in 2014, will accommodate a total of 7,500 students."

The university is currently run at the General Organisation for Social Insurance (Gosi) complex, Hoora .

"We are confident to go for the first phase of construction of the new campus without borrowing money from financial institutions," said Dr Al Hawaj.

Ahlia has four colleges - College of Arts and Fine Arts, College of Business and Finance, College of Mathematical Science and IT, and College of Medical and Health Sciences.

A fifth college of visual communications, including media production, will be opened shortly.

The holding company of the university is the Arab Academy for Science and Research (AASR).

The university board is chaired by leading businessman Farouk Almoayyed.

The university has affiliations with Brunel University, UK, and the University of Wisconsin, US.-TradeArabia News Service