Personal bio
Mr. Mc Polin is a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) with two degrees in City
Planning specialising in the management of the interface between urban planning and
infrastructure planning and programme implementation. He is also a Chartered
Planning and Development Surveyor holding the postgraduate professional charter
exams of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS). He is a member of
the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.(FCIArb). In addition, he holds the RICS
Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management, the Postgraduate ACCA Certified
Diploma in Accounting & Finance and he also holds an MBA in Construction and
Real Estate. He is an RICS Accredited Evaluative Mediator, Bahrain Chamber of
Commerce Certified Mediator and has a Diploma in Arbitration and a Diploma in
International Arbitration.
He has worked at Ministerial level in Bahrain for 35 years providing trusted advice
during this period to 6 ministers on a one-to-one basis having previously worked in
Ireland, UK, Germany and Iraq.
Notable career achievements:
1) Senior Planner on the conservation of the ancient city of Baghdad, at that time
the largest urban conservation project in the world (1982).
2) Co-author of the 1987 Dublin City Development Plan 1984-1988. This plan
was key in providing the infrastructure and economic strategies that helped to
make Dublin one of the fastest growing urban areas in Europe in 1990s.
3) Manager of the Bahrain Northshore Programme Office (2006-2013) for the
planning, budgeting and delivery of integrated value driven public and private
infrastructure development in an area of rapid urban growth including most of
Bahrain’s iconic mega projects ($7 billion joint public private investment
area). Audited ROI of Northshore Programme Office performance 19:1.
4) Director of the Joint Program Management Office (JPMO) with the US Army
Corps of Engineers (2010-2017) providing in house Corps support to the
Government of Bahrain for selected civilian infrastructure projects under a
unique Government to Government agreement drafted and managed by Mr.
Mc Polin.
5) ICC Court of Arbitration in Paris , sole witness of fact under oath on behalf of
the Bahrain Government in the successful defence of a major claim from a
PPP project.
6) De Facto regulator of District Cooling provision in Bahrain from 2005. Author
of the first draft legislation for the statutory regulation of the District Cooling
Industry in Bahrain.
7) Ministerial appointment to temporary stewardship of a number of major
infrastructure projects in distress for intervention and stabilisation before
return to the owning authority.
8) 34 years as neutral mediator and arbitrator for resolution of technical/spatial/
financial and programme conflicts and disputes arising between public and
private stakeholders in the infrastructure industry in accordance with Bahrain
Civil Service Bureau (CSB) mandate. RICS Accredited Evaluative Mediator.
9) Previous attendee in support of the weekly Bahrain Cabinet Subcommittee for
Infrastructure chaired by H.H. the Deputy Prime Minister. Previous
appointments also included membership of the Urban Planning &
Development Authority (UPDA) Special Projects Committee, the Economic
Development Board (EDB) Priority Projects Committee, the National GIS
Committee, membership of the Bahrain Sustainable Energy Authority (SEA)
IFC Committee and chairman of the SEA subcommittee on District Cooling,
member of the Sea level Rise and Climate Change Committee and Board
member of the RICS Bahrain.
10) In addition to his Ministerial advisory role, he was responsible for 34
years for the development and management of national integration procedures,
technologies and data standards providing coordination and mediation services
to over 70 stakeholders across all demarcation lines to include all ministries,
agencies and companies involved with the provision of infrastructure including
the oil and gas industry, the military and the private sector. In addition, the
implementation of large-scale real estate masterplans and infrastructure Public
Private Partnership (PPP) Agreements in Bahrain were also managed through
Technical Interface Agreements designed and operated under the leadership of
Mr. Mc Polin.
Advisor to the following Ministers in Bahrain.
1. 1988-1995: Minister of Works, Power and Water.
2. 1995-2001: Minister of Works and Agriculture plus
Minister of Electricity and Water.
3. 2001-2002: Minister of Works.
4. 2002-2007: Minister of Works and Housing.
5. 2007-2010: Minister of Works and Minister of Electricity & Water.
6. 2010-2014: Minister of Works.
7. 2014-2022: Minister of Works, Municipal Affairs and Urban Planning.
8. 2022-2023: Minister of Works.
Proven Corporate Management Innovation and Integration Specialisms:
1. Creation and management of alignment and assignment processes for
integrated multi agency Strategic Planning.
2. Creation and management of the institutional interfaces between urban
planning and development control with infrastructure planning and
development.
3. Creation and management of Government institutional interfaces with
private sector real estate developers.
4. Creation and management of value driven processes for integrated
multi agency infrastructure programme implementation in support of
social and economic objectives.
5. Provider of experienced leadership, pathfinder and risk management
services to assist the implementation of Public Private Partnerships
focused on the integration of the private sector into public sector
statutory and non statutory business processes from planning, design
and construction stages to operation and decommission.
6. Mediation, arbitration and neutral conflict resolution and non line
management leadership across the demarcation boundaries between
infrastructure stakeholder organisations, permitting agencies and the
private sector in the team delivery of integrated infrastructure.
7. Alternative dispute resolution through early intervention and conflict
avoidance.
8. local and international arbitration experience based strategies.