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.