‘Landlord should ensure safety of rented house’

n So who should take responsibility for the maintenance of old buildings and homes?The Chairman of Manama Municipal Council, Murtada Bader, said that while the municipality was responsible for maintenance works for buildings that housed poor families, it was the sole responsibility of the landlord to ensure that safety standards were met when they rented out property to workers. “Our inspectors conduct regular checks on all buildings and if we find that a building is in dangerous condition, we send out two warnings to the landlord asking him to demolish it.” If there was still no action, Bader added, the municipality would make arrangements to demolish the building at the landlord’s expense.

No parking lot, no building permit

Parking lot is a must within the buildings which have been waiting for clearance to start letting in tenants and connect to power, water and other facilities, the Manama Municipal Council has ruled.“We have withheld a number of permits pending investigation. We want building owners to provide parking space on the premises rather than taking private plots on lease for the purpose,” council secretary Jassim Redha told Bahrain Tribune. “The problem is that there is no guarantee if the leasser will not terminate the contract and use his plot for some purpose. And if that happens, the users or tenants of the building will have no parking space. The permits have been withheld for Al Hayat Hospital in Gudaibiya and Atlal Al Qadasiya building in Salmaniya near to Sana, among others, as the council has been waiting for the documents confirming the availability of parking space.“In Atlal’s case, the permit has been pending for four years. The building has seven storeys of flats as well as commercial shops underground. The owner has taken a plot for parking on lease. Al Hayat Hospital had shops on the ground floor before the building was converted into the hospital. We have asked for parking lot for patients. We are also studying the leases,” Redha said.

Zoo would be a disease threat

I would like to congratulate Manama Municipal Council member Mr Mohammed Abdulla Mansoor Abdulla for scrapping plans to include a small zoo in a new park in Karababad (GDN, November 25).
Mr Abdulla said "the decision was made in view of the many diseases that may be caused by animals". This is a valid point indeed, the recent bird flu scare has caused people to re-evaluate the potential hazards of keeping animals in captivity.
There are more than 200 diseases or infections recognised by the World Health Organisation which are transmissible from animals to man, ranging from mild infections to life threatening diseases.
Personally I would scrap any proposal for a small zoo in a park on the grounds of the animals' welfare, but if the plans for a zoo get scrapped on the grounds of health and safety reasons then so be it - it serves the same purpose in the end. Little by little, one way or another, attitudes towards zoos are changing, even here in Bahrain. Anti zoo campaigner

Water garden to get a facelift

The 40-year-old Water Garden will soon get a facelift costing BD400,000.The decision was taken at the Manama Municipal Council’s session yesterday.The garden that once attracted thousands of people daily has lost its charm due to the worn-out rides and lack of proper facilities.Over the years the garden has undergone just one minor reconstruction work and the present condition is not up to the standard, said the municipal council Secretary, Jassim Redha.“The garden will be extended by 50 per cent of its present size. We will use the piece of land behind the Water Garden that belongs to the Manama Municipality for the extension,” he said.“The two pools in the garden have dried up and so we are thinking of creating a bird island in one of the pools.”The budget for the facelift of the garden will be allocated from the BD2 million budget for the projects of the Manama Council.