TRIBUTES poured in for prominent Bahraini businessman Haji Ahmed Mansoor Al A’Ali who died yesterday after a long illness. He was 94.
Born to a poor family in 1930, Mr Al A’Ali lost his father, Mansoor, who worked as a palm farmer, when he was just three years old.
At the age of 18, he got into business, by buying a mechanical crusher to turn large rocks into concrete, working in the desert which is now located in Hamad Town.
A year later, he founded the Ahmed Mansoor Al A’Ali Group and soon gained a reputation as a pioneer in the construction business.
He set up a brick factory in Salmaniya near the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), and bought burnt oil from Bapco to mix it with concrete and use it to lay down roads.
The first road he built was in Salmaniya; his company also built Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Highway and worked in Mina Salman. Some of his other roads projects included the link from Dry Dock to Hidd village, Sitra Old Bridge, old airport and SMC.
He was also involved in work in Alba and Bahrain Refineries, and land reclamation in Naim and the Diplomatic Area.
The biggest project his firm undertook was reclamation work in Mina Salman after the construction of the runway at Bahrain International Airport.
Mr Al A’Ali was chairman of the board of directors of the Jaffari Endowments in 1994, a Shura Council member and honorary president of the A’Ali Social Charity Society.
He was also involved in charity work. One of his humanitarian projects included a programme to send Bahraini students to universities in and outside Bahrain.
Mr Al A’Ali’s secretary for more than 35 years, Bahraini Abdul Kadar Mohiuddin, said the businessman was one of Bahrain’s development pillars.
“He helped many poor families with finance to build houses,” he said yesterday.
“He sent a number of Bahrainis to study abroad and some went on to become doctors, chartered accountants and engineers.”
Mr Al A’Ali was buried in A’ali cemetery.
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