Manama Council launches social services project

THE much-awaited social services project of the Manama Municipal Council was launched yesterday, with the assessment of 20 houses which need minor improvements.The project compliments the national project to rehabilitate old houses launched following directives of His Majesty the King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, in all the five governorates.The council’s project aims to help needy families to renovate toilets, replace tiles, doors and windows, or give a face-list to their homes, secretary Jassim Redha said.“We launched the project by referring the cases to the municipality for assessment and then to contractors. Since each renovation contract is less than BD3, 000, direct action can be taken,” he said. “The project complements the rehabilitation of old houses by taking care of minor repairs. The national rehabilitation project under which old houses are demolished and replaced with new ones, follows similar refurbishment in the buildings which only need upgrading. Therefore, our project will help reduce the workload on the government.“We have begun with 20 cases and have estimated the refurbishment cost. We have also received quotations from contractors hired a technician from the Manama Municipality to take care of the project. Phase One has been allocated BD100,000 to help as many needy families as possible. We expect to allocate about BD2,500 for each each. The budget has come from the common fund of the municipality,” Redha said

Café culture...

ACCORDING to Manama Municipal council secretary Jassim Redha the council is coming down heavily on internet cafes and has decided to ban private cabins.
He further says since the number of cafes is increasing enormously, teenagers are getting easy access to pornography.
Earlier some councillors and deputies alleged that some teenage boys and girls used such internet cafes as cheap place of meeting etc. I do not know in which world people like Jassim Redha are living. Do they work just sitting in their offices and homes or practically they do take some pain in visiting the areas from they were elected.
Internet cafes have separate cabins where the young used to see prohibited sites. This was years ago. Today most of the internet cafes have put their computers open with only four-metre high partitions and not closed cabins.
Only a very few still have closed cabins which they are also converting to open spaces. Jassim is wrong that the number of internet cafes is going up. He needs to correct his knowledge.
Internet cafes are decreasing and call centres are increasing. The already existing internet cafes have too converted themselves into telephony call centres as according to them the latter is more profitable.
Almost 90 per cent of internet cafes in the capital have converted their net cabins into phone cabins and only one or two PCs are reserved for internet. In order to provide more cabins for telephony, where there are one or two internet cabins left these are like pigeon holes which can take only one chair with leg turned.
With Batelco's attitude now without first announcing billing Down Loading fee the rest of the cafes are slowly closing the internet facility. People like Jassim Redha if they really want to serve the community, they need to divert their attention to more serious community civic problems.
They must see how old Manama corniche marble benches and trees have been demolished, uninterrupted walkers garden-road side path has been given away to a food outlet by carving a special road for the outlet.
If Jassim and his like are interested they should see how fish are being sold outside Last Chance where hundreds of vehicles throw dust and smoke on this fish and only three yards from there is a waste dump and a toilet.
Bachelors should go out of Manama, gents clothes should not to be hanged on balconies are cheap slogans for the next elections.
One who visits internet cafes does not have net at home

Building clamp sparks row

By TARIQ KHONJI
A MUNICIPAL council has been accused of deterring investment into Bahrain by halting construction of a 10-storey apartment building in Umm Al Hassam after it had already been given the go-ahead. The Manama Municipal Council will now reconsider its decision to block construction after work had already started.
It vetoed the project while it was already under way after agreeing to only allow new buildings to be built in the area if they are no more than six storeys high.
The council had earlier given it the green light to go up to 10 storeys under a previous classification system.
However, the Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry upheld the council's decision and ordered construction work to stop for one month after the main contractor had already begun piling work.
Project consultant Bahrain Engineering Bureau proprietor Khalid Jamsheer said the move was bad for business and could scare away investors.
He estimated that it could turn the entire project into a failure - resulting in the land value dropping 50 per cent from its BD40 per square foot price.
"The project was approved by Civil Defence, the Electricity and Water Ministry, the Roads Directorate and even the zoning department of the Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry," said Mr Jamsheer.
"We followed all the proper procedures and began construction.
"We were shocked that they ordered us to stop without giving us an explanation."
Mr Jamsheer said the project was initiated following a change in the area's classification in 2004, which allowed for buildings of up to 10 storeys to be built above the ground floor.
"The area had been changed to classification C, which allows for taller buildings," he said.
"Bahrain's policy, as stated by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, is to favour vertical construction because this is a small country without much space.
"In Dubai, buildings are allowed to go up to 80 or 90 floors and we are still stuck at six?"
Mr Jamsheer urged Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Ali Saleh Al Saleh, who is said to have signed the documents freezing the project, to reverse his decision.
He also accused the Council of being ignorant of economic concerns, adding that a shorter building would take a much longer time for the investor to recover his investment.
"It could take 10 years or more, which would make the investment a failure," continued Mr Jamsheer.
However, Manama Municipal Council chairman Murtaza Bader said the area had been reclassified again to make Manama better organised.
"We don't want to have really tall buildings next to really short ones," he said.
"We will be discussing this matter at our meeting on Tuesday. We may reverse the decision or we may compensate the investor for the losses."
A statement from the Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry said it does not have the legal right to go against the council's decision to halt construction.
"The council ordered the construction to be halted for one month while it studies the matter," it said.
The ministry is now awaiting the council's final decision on Tuesday before taking any further action.

Municipal counters open

EIGHT counters have opened at the Manama Municipality to register building permit applications and receive municipal fines.The Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, Ali Saleh Al Saleh, inaugurated the counters yesterday in the presence of the General Director of the municipality, Abdulkarim Hassam, Manama Municipal Council chairman Murtada Bader, secretary Jassim Redha and other officials. The counters aim to speed up the processing of applications and other work as part of the municipality’s initiative to facilitate e-municipality.Al Saleh said the ministry would extend the facility to all other municipalities. “We are trying to put everything concept-wise. Once people submit their applications, there will be follow-up by SMS on their papers and when they will receive the permits. The counters will handle licences for advertisements,” Redha said.He said the counters would work from 7am to 12.30pm. There will be a support team of engineers to expedite the work and solve problems.

10-storey project stalled

Naila BarakatStaff ReporterThe BAHRAIN Engineering Bureau Consultant office has cried foul over the decision of the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture to halt work on its building due to the rezoning of the area.The Manama Municipality has issued a violation ticket to the owner of BD2 million project, who has a permit to build a 10-storey building, to now restrict it to six-storeys.Khalid Jamsheer, who is developing the project in Umm Al Hassam, said: “In October 2004, a Bahraini investor had come to our office to develop his land in Umm Al Hassam. In August 2004, the ministerial order No. 51 combined the area categories under new investments areas. We were developing the plot over 1,037 square metres. We designed a luxury flats building based on the site in the investment area C which is for 10-storey buildings. We obtained the approval of the Ministry of Electricity and Water, the Roads Directorate, Civil Defence and Aviation, Drainage Section and the zoning department at the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture. We obtained the building permit in December 2005.”He said the upper right hand side of the permit paper says the classification is C. But in July 2005, the law No. 27 confirmed the building regulations for the new investment areas. The Cabinet also approved new regulations for the investment area ‘D’ which limits 10-storey buildings to six. According to area zoning, the plot is now in the investment C area which means 10-storeys. “The tender was awarded to class A contractor, Al Ghanah Construction. The piling work started. And then a municipality official served the violation notice, asking us to stop the work immediately,” Jamsheer said.“A municipality inspector also visited us and warned that if the construction continued, then the matter would be taken to police. He also asked us to attend a meeting in office of inspections on February 12 at 9am. During the discussion we learnt that the Manama Municipal Council had asked to stop the work and reduce the building height from 10 floors to six, but did not provide any reason.” He said the council also wrote to the minister, Ali Al Saleh, to issue order to stop the construction. “The council has also taken action to reclassify the area from C to D investment area which means that the land which was on sale for BD40 per square feet is now worth less than BD20 to BD15. We reject the decision. Who will compensate for the project and those who have bought land?” he said Council secretary Jassim Redha said Clause No. 21 of the Municipal Act No. 35 for 2001 empowered the council to review permits. “We have ordered the work stopped for one month because the area had been changed due to zoning. Jamsheer had a permit on the previous zoning map. We think that if this building is constructed then it will be the only one with 11 floors among in the area where only a maximum of six-floors is allowed. “We think they might ask for compensation and the ministry should think about it. We want to support all investors deal with them as partners under the guidelines issued by the minister. The temporary halt is to study the case due to the rezoning of the areas. We will have a special session on Tuesday to take a decision.”

Building clamp

MANAMA: The Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry has halted the construction of a 10-storey building in Umm Al Hassam following a complaint by a member of the Manama Municipal Council, sources told our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej.

This effectively cancels the building licence issued by a competent municipal authority and limits the building to six storeys

Permits for universities, clinics leave council in jitters

The Manama Municipal Council has a major problem. It is facing difficulties in identifying suitable sites as the ministries of Education and Health continue to issue licences for universities and clinics. “Our problem is to identify sites and then squeeze in universities and clinics in residential areas in the Capital where car parking space is scarce,” council secretary Jassim Redha said yesterday. “We are forced to give out spaces to private universities and educational institutions, because the Ministry of Education issues permits without consulting us or knowing where to locate them,” he said. “Our technical committee headed by Sadiq Rahma has decided to approve criteria for private schools and universities in Manama. The problem is that the universities in the residential areas are reluctant to allocate parking areas. “I think it will be a great help if all the five municipal councils are involved in the process of issuing permits. Both the ministries continue to issue licences for clinics and institutions because the government has been focusing on providing better health and education facilities. But the ministries should identify the district and the area before issuing the licences. The people who are granted the permits approach us for and our problems begin,” he said. One way out, Redha said, was to exert pressure on the universities and clinics to provide as much parking space as possible. “We have 43 private educational institutions permitted by the ministry. The number has increased in the past three years following the government initiative to further improve the facilities. The ministry is already supervising 218 schools.” By our staff reporter

Mosques, matams can open shops in non-trading zones

Mosques and matams (community centres) can set up shops on their premises in non-commercial zones. As an exception, the Manama Municipal Council yesterday set special rules so that the religious establishments can open shops to ensure a steady income to fund their programmes, council secretary Jassim Redha said. “Previous rules allow each mosque to open only one shop. We have now extended the rules to matams and other religious organisations. We also want to relax the rules so that they can open more than one shop. But we will amend regulations based on each case.” “The council approved two shops for the Karbabad matam. The new rules to open shops at religious centres and mosques are an exception in the sense that the shops won’t be on the commercial roads.” The head of the technical committee, Sadiq Rahman, said the council would facilitate the opening of two shops at every matam in the Capital and elsewhere in the Kingdom. “Our meeting yesterday also called for the withdrawal of the decision to exchange plots of land between the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Education. “In 2002 the Ministry of Housing exchanged some plots behind the Bapco Garden near the Pearl roundabout with a plot in Riffa. The plot belonged to the Manama Municipality and the exchange cause huge losses to the municipality. “The Riffa plot is only 1,200 square metres and cost BD10, 000, but the two plots near the garden are huge and cost more than BD1 million. Naila Barakat Staff Reporter

No ‘shortcuts’ to their protection

Youngsters’ cabins in Internet cafés to go The Manama Municipal Council has espoused a new philosophy – ‘protect them young.’ Coming down heavily on Internet cafés in the Capital, the council has decided to ban private cabins which have become more than a nuisance. As the number of cafés is increasing, more and more teenagers are getting an easy access to pornography, thanks to the cabins. Council secretary Jassim Redha told Bahrain Tribune yesterday that complaints had been pouring in about cafés and the way they provide facilities for children to sit in privacy and surf pornographic sites. “The cafés charge the children very little amount on hourly basis. If youngsters surf the Internet for one hour they have all the time to browse any site they want,” Redha said. “Most of the cafés depend on this kind of market to make money and therefore they save pornographic sites as ‘SHORT CUTs’ on the desktop so that the users do not have to waste time looking for the sites. Just click ‘SHORTCUTs’ and that’s it.” Redha said Batelco had shown a white flag saying that it did not have control to block pornographic sites and that could block only text. There are 100 per cent pornographic sites and Batelco can block only 2.5 per cent of them. It cannot block all pictures either. “Our technical committee, headed by Sadiq Rahma, has paid inspection visits to various cafés. The main problem is that the cafés provide private cabins which are illegal because they have not been permitted by the municipality. Since they don’t take permission for making alterations in the shops, it is considered a municipal violation. “We will enforce our decision with a firm hand to ensure that all the cafés have their computer areas open. There should be no cabins for youngsters. Yes, there can be some kind of shield near the computer screens for privacy for the users. “The cafés must keep a vigil on youngsters surfing the Net. Our responsibility is to ensure that the cafés are well-designed and commit no violations. The Ministry of Information should look into ways to block such sites.” Redha said.Last update on: 14-2-2006

Stop dumping harmful waste!

By RASHA AL QAHTANI

CONSTRUCTION companies have been ordered by the Manama Municipality to stop dumping waste materials at a Juffair coastline and a private plot of land.

The move followed a petition signed by Juffair residents, who asked the Manama Municipal Council to preserve the area's environment.

Residents said the pollution has also been emitting a stench that was becoming unbearable.

"I inspected the land accompanied by environment experts. It was appalling," council member Sayed Yousif Hashim Alawi told the GDN.

"These companies have been dumping harmful waste for a very long time now, which destroyed a large section of wildlife and the plants it thrives on.

"The building waste materials polluted the water, which may be harmful to the seagulls normally found there.

"This made the residents ask the municipality to order the companies to stop dumping their waste and preserve the environment and cleanliness of the coastline."

The residents also demanded the area be cleaned up of the waste, which has already been started by the municipality.

Mr Alawi warned that action would be taken against companies that may be dumping waste illegally in the future.

"Factories that are found dumping illegally will be punished according to the amount of waste," he said.

"They will also be ordered to improve the situation and meet the specifications of the environment inspection team."

Stop dumping harmful waste!

By RASHA AL QAHTANI
CONSTRUCTION companies have been ordered by the Manama Municipality to stop dumping waste materials at a Juffair coastline and a private plot of land.
The move followed a petition signed by Juffair residents, who asked the Manama Municipal Council to preserve the area's environment.
Residents said the pollution has also been emitting a stench that was becoming unbearable.
"I inspected the land accompanied by environment experts. It was appalling," council member Sayed Yousif Hashim Alawi told the GDN.
"These companies have been dumping harmful waste for a very long time now, which destroyed a large section of wildlife and the plants it thrives on.
"The building waste materials polluted the water, which may be harmful to the seagulls normally found there.
"This made the residents ask the municipality to order the companies to stop dumping their waste and preserve the environment and cleanliness of the coastline."
The residents also demanded the area be cleaned up of the waste, which has already been started by the municipality.
Mr Alawi warned that action would be taken against companies that may be dumping waste illegally in the future.
"Factories that are found dumping illegally will be punished according to the amount of waste," he said.
"They will also be ordered to improve the situation and meet the specifications of the environment inspection team."

How many more clampdowns?

AS the sun rises (or the sin rises) daily, so is the number of clamps on the rise in Bahrain. With enough and more clamps already in force, here comes yet two more latest clamps called "The bachelors clamp" (GDN, January 23) and "The Peeping Tom clamp" (GDN, January 24).
According to the Muharraq Municipal Council chairman Mr Al Jowder, in future , owners of new multi-storey buildings located in residential areas, will be permitted to instal only one-way windows. This is in order to prevent people peeping into the privacy of a woman's freedom of movement within her home. It means that, if a land is situated in the middle of four or five houses surrounding it then the high-rise buildings will have no windows at all.
Well, if that is the case, then what is the worry for Mr Sadiq Rahma concerning the bachelors living in Manama?
I can give two good suggestions. Whether you accept it or not is another matter.
1. The Manama municipal councillor can sign a long-term contract with the Muharraq municipal councillor to house all the bachelors living in Manama, who exhibit their body parts, in the new buildings of Muharraq without windows. Provide each building with enough number of telescopes on the roof top, focusing up into the sky, so that the bachelors are kept busy gazing at the stars and moon all through.
2. Animal cages of many of the circus companies in India are lying idle. Import a few of those cages and erect them in Askar overlooking the scrap yard. Then hunt down all the bachelors in and around Bahrain and lock them up in these cages. Release them only at the time of reporting for work.
I don't think that anybody else could have given you a faster solution than this, for such a complex issue. However I will advise you to choose proposal no 1, because the end result will be tremendous. You can get two birds with one shot. The major problem faced by the families on account of these indecent bachelors will be contained and they will emerge as great astronomers of tomorrow.
Anyway, whatever you people may do, or whatever action you may take all that I wish to say is that "Let not your actions make the citizens of other countries think that the people of Bahrain are living in a real mad, mad world".
Abraham Samuel (Bijji)