Mr.Secretary General of the United Nations On July 2 the Prime Minister of Bahrain Khalifa bin Salman, is to be awarded the Habitat Scroll of Honour award for his efforts in improving the lot of the urban poor and his impressive efforts in lifting the living standards of all Bahrainis. It is our belief that Khalifa Bin Salman shouldn\'t be given this award because he is the embodiment of corruption, and the main force behind most of the social and economical problems in Bahrain. Given the catastrophic housing conditions in Bahrain, and the Prime Ministers\' Record on the issue, we believe this award is totally undeserved. It is ironic that Khalifa Bin Salman, who has been the Prime minister of Bahrain since its indepenence in 1971, and the main person behind the corruption and the deteriorating conditions in the country, gets such a prestigious award from the United Nations. As countless studies and reports from NGOs, the UN itself and the media have shown, Bahrain is the poorest country in the Persian Gulf despite the Oil income and the tiny population. The people of Bahrain are suffering from the bad policies, mismanagement and corruption that have characterized Khalifa Bin Salman\'s period as Prime Minister. It is noteworthy that the Bahraini Prime Minister gets the award for habitat and urban housing development, given the fact that he is directly responsible for the housing problems in the country. 90% of land is privately owned, mainly by the Prime Minister himself and the rest of the Royal family. The main problem in the housing sector is said to be shortage of land, yet quite a big portion of Bahrain is owned by Khalifa Bin Salman and his family. One consequence of this has been an increasing household size, one of the highest in the world according to the World Bank. Mr. Seretary General, you can disregard the well-documented poor record of the Prime Minister and his government for the past 36 years on human rights, torture and sectarian discrimination, lack of basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression and the freedom of the press and association and others. And look only at the Bahraini governments\' policy on habitat and housing development. You will see that Khalifa Bin Salman should not be getting this award from the United Nations. That would also be the wrong signal to send to the corrupt regimes of the world, that they can gain recognition if they just do hard lobbying. Thank You Sincerely yours

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