DUBAI – UAE authorities have implemented housing allowances for Emirati menwho have two wives in order to decrease the number of unmarried women inthe country.

The decision to give a housing allowance from The Sheikh Zayed HousingProgramme was announced on Wednesday by the UAE Minister of InfrastructureDevelopment, Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi at the Federal National Council(FNC) session, reported the Khaleej Timeslink->.

“The second wife should be provided with the same living arrangements asthe first wife,” stated the minister.

This move will help reduce the number of unmarried women in the UAE, FNCmembers said during the session.

“The ministry should simplify the procedure for a man to marry a secondwoman, by providing him with housing opportunities, which will also solvethe problem with spinsterhood,” added Hamad Al Rahoomi, FNC member.

By tackling this housing issue, members discussed improvement in the socialstructure, as men find it difficult to marry more than one woman at a timedue to high housing costs.

The project to allocate housing units for men with second wives wasestablished in late 2017 under the mandate of President His Highness SheikhKhalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Questions about progress of the scheme were raised during a session by FNCmember Khalifa Suhail Al Mazrouei to Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi,Minister of Infrastructure Development.

Speaking about the progress of the initiative, it was said, “One, is toreplace the land that the citizen already owns, with another place. Thehouse is removed because it is not habitable” by Dr Abdullah Belhaif AlNuaimi, Minister of Infrastructure Development.

So far 500 homes have been replaced and with work “going well,” the housingreplacement may exceed 2,000 homes soon, the minister added.

Al Nuaimi said authorities consider the design and infrastructure of allprojects. “A guidebook for these buildings has been launched and isavailable,” he stated.