TEAR IT DOWN!

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
MANAMA
MANAMA: A court ruled yesterday that a landmark Manama block of flats, shops and offices is so dangerous it must be immediately torn down. The demolition of the 11-storey twin-tower Kuwaiti Building was ordered by the Urgent Matters Court.
It ruled in favour of the Manama Municipality, which sought the demolition order on the 30-year-old complex.
It is owned by a Kuwaiti businessman, who has 10 days to appeal against the
verdict, said officials.
There are flats on eight floors and shops or offices on the first three levels.
The municipality filed the case a month ago and last Thursday, municipality director-general told the GDN that engineers and the Civil Defence and Fire Service had declared the building unsafe.
He said the building was badly damaged by fire eight years ago and there were many cracks in the walls and pillars, with metal bars visible in some places. Ceilings have fallen down in many places and the air-conditioning system was badly damaged, said Mr Hassan.
Area municipal councillor Jaffar Al Qaidoom welcomed the verdict yesterday, but said it would mean severe difficulty for tenants.
"The problem has just begun because moving businesses and families out of the building will be very difficult and I don't know how the authorities will deal with it," he said.
Building manager Ibrahim Ahmed said that the management would appeal the verdict.
"The owner of the building is coming from Kuwait to look into the issue, the only thing I know is that the municipality's claims are false.
He said the owner would be in Bahrain today.

Old houses may be demolished

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
MANAMA
MANAMA: Dilapidated houses in Manama that have either been abandoned by their owners or turned into labour camps could soon be torn down. A budget of BD500,000 will be allocated every year for the scheme, it was agreed by the Manama Municipal Council yesterday at its general-secretariat meeting.
The aim is to avoid a repeat of the Gudaibiya labour camp fire, which killed 16 people last month.
"There are many houses owned by well-known dignitaries and businessmen who have left them a long time ago and are not being used by anyone, or in some cases are occupied by expatriate workers," said council public relations and information committee vice-chairman Mohammed Mansoor.
"The council doesn't want to see another tragedy in Manama after the labour camp burned down last month in Gudaibiya."
Mr Mansoor said councillors would come up with lists of houses to be included in the scheme as soon as possible.
"Final approval of the scheme is expected soon, but the lists are required so an initial budget can be decided for it to begin," he said.
A final vote on the issue is expected to take place on September 12, when the council will hold a full meeting.
The scheme is expected to be funded by the Manama Municipality and will not come under the His Majesty King Hamad Scheme for Dilapidated Houses, which only applies to homes occupied by people who need financial aid to renovate them.

Municipal fees rises on way

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
THOUSANDS of businesses and expatriate tenants in Manama face increased municipal fees, as officials try to stamp out cheating. Municipal fees for leased business premises and expatriates' homes or flats at currently calculated at 10 per cent of the monthly rent.
But the Manama Municipal Council is planning to change this and base fees on 10pc of the going rent for the area.
The aim is to stop private deals between landlords and tenants, under which leases state outdated rents, to keep down the municipal fees.
Under the new proposal, the Manama Municipality will stop looking at leases and instead will calculate fees based on the rent in the area.
The council's general-secretariat met yesterday and asked the municipality to prepare a study on the proposal.
"Rent has dramatically increased over the past years, but many municipal fees are still being calculated according to old contracts," said council public relations and information committee vice-chairman Mohammed Mansoor.
"For example, a shop that used to pay rent of BD100 in 1996 now pays BD300, but the municipality only takes BD10.
"New shops in the same area are paying BD30, which shows that there is cheating somehow in paying municipal fees.
"On the other hand, expatriates who have rented flats in 1996 are just paying BD15 considering that their flats' rent is officially stated in the contract as BD150.
"Their new neighbour pays BD25, because the contract states the monthly rent is BD250."
Bahrainis living in flats only pay fees of BD2 every month.
Mr Mansoor said fees for businesses and expatriate tenants would soon be calculated according to the going rate for rent in the area.
"If the rent for 50 per cent or more shops or flats in the area is BD300, then fees will be BD30 for all," he said.
Mr Mansoor said that this would also help increase the municipality's revenue, which in the end is spent on the community. "Whether it is spent on cleaning or development projects, this money is being used wisely for the people," he said.

Trade is flourishing in Adliya

PROSTITUTES aged anywhere between 17 and 50 can be found operating in Adliya, according to a Thai florist who works in the area.
He estimated there could be 10 to 20 prostitutes working in the area, which also houses the main headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID).
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, added that they come straight from Thailand to work in the sex trade - attracting business "anywhere crowded", from discos to coffee shops.
"Some say they have sponsors and others don't," he said.
"Many of them don't speak English.
"The Saudi men just drive by, open their doors and say 'hi' and 'how much?' It's very open.
"I have spoken to some of them and know lot of them are very poor and are forced into this by circumstances.
"But I'm ashamed because they are from my country.
"Many of my Thai female friends who work for restaurants or hair salons complain to me that they are often mistaken for and treated like prostitutes.
"They tell me no one respects them anymore."
However, he did say that the number of Thai prostitutes had decreased recently - blaming competition from Chinese prostitutes who were challenging them for their turf and forcing them to look elsewhere for business.
"The women are getting fed up - it's hot, the customers are less and Ramadan is approaching," he said.
"They are looking to other places besides Bahrain now."
He even claims some women tell him they are hired on a monthly basis and a customer rents an apartment for them, which they maintain to keep off the streets.
"When they get 'boyfriends' they cannot go out anymore and have to stay inside all day," he said.
"Most of the men who do that are American or British because they have the means to do it.
"The Saudi men just drive over for a night. They don't bother to keep the women."
Asked whether the police ever did anything about it, the man said arrests had in fact been made and he thought many women were detained at the Isa Town detention facility.
One Indian shopkeeper interviewed in the area, which is host to a number of Thai restaurants and grocery stores, said he was aware of the stories but never witnessed anything himself.
"I have read all the letters in the paper, but I have never seen anything," he said.
"My shop is only open until 9pm and I leave at 7pm, so maybe I just miss everything."
A Bahraini cashier working at a Thai supermarket also said she got off work at 5pm and never noticed anything.
"This is a Thai store and Thai people come in here all the time to buy food," she said.
"That is all I see and there is nothing strange about that."
Another Thai shopkeeper said he witnessed the women early in the evening when they came out in their abayas to shop.
"They come out between 5pm and 7pm to do their shopping, but they never pick up customers here," he said. "They work at the hotels."
Another Thai hairdresser agreed, saying the women only came out to shop in the evening and that police patrolled the area around two or three times a week.
All shopkeepers admitted that the increased traffic was good for business, if bad for their reputations as Asians.
However, elected officials representing areas reportedly frequented by prostitutes said they were unaware of claims that the neighbourhood was deteriorating.
Manama Municipal Councillor Jaffer Al Qaidoom urged residents to report any complaints to him.
"I am not aware of this situation. I know there are a few hotels in the area, but I have never received any complaints from residents," said Mr Al Qaidoom, who is the council's technical committee vice-chairman.
"If the residents have a problem they must come forward and inform the councillors."
Meanwhile, MP Yousif Al Hermi advised people to also contact the police.
"I have personally never heard of this," he said. "This does not please me at all and firm measures need to be taken in response to this apparent problem. "Residents should inform the police about these prostitutes."

Council staff seek bonus

By MAY ASHOUR
ADMINISTRATION employees at the country's five municipal councils are requesting a bonus in appreciation of their dedicated work over the past four years.
The general secretaries of the five councils are presenting their request to Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Ali Saleh Al Saleh on behalf of all 56 employees today.
It is hoped that the minister will oblige, seeing that both Shura Council and parliamentary administrative employees were awarded bonuses this year of BD350 and BD500 respectively.
"We are a small cadre and we have worked very hard over the last four years to serve these elected bodies," said Manama municipal council general secretary Jassim Redha Hussain.
The employees' main role is to organise and document meetings as well as act in liaisons with the various ministries.
Their duties also include the maintenance of six websites for the councils, the publication of five magazines and ten leaflets and brochures aimed at public awareness of social, health, and environmental issues as well as helping with local community projects and activities.
"We work non-stop all year, we don't get overtime, and we cannot afford to go on vacation because we are understaffed," said Mr Hussain.
"The councillors are all on holiday right now, but we are all still working, preparing for the next session.
"We can only afford to let one or two employees take off every year.
"We work hard because we believe in our cause and the reform process.
"This is service work that is very important to our nation, and we are only asking for a small reward."

BD250,000 park to open soon

By RASHA AL QAHTANI
WORK on a new BD250,000 public park in Karbabad is expected to be completed by September.
The project was initiated by Manama Municipal Council as part of its development programme for the Capital Governorate.
Councillor Mohammed Abdulla Mansoor Abdulla said the park near Le Chocolat, Seef District, would feature a variety of facilities for Karbabad and neighbouring villages.
"The work now is basically to remove the stones and level the ground for the project," he said.
The park, which will be built o an area of 5,762 square metres will have rides for the children, a walkway and an artificial waterfall.
Trees will be planted, shades will be set up and floodlights will be installed around the park to make the place brighter and more appealing and presentable to visitors.
"Plans for a small zoo was to be included in the park on the request of Karbabad residents, but it was scrapped by the council."
"The decision was made in view of the many diseases that may be caused by animals," he said.
Mr Abdulla the council did not want to endanger the health of residents by taking a chance and setting up a zoo near residential areas.
The park will also include other necessary facilities, such as toilets for disabled people since the council takes them into consideration in every project it implements.
"Residents will no longer have to travel elsewhere to enjoy park surroundings or for their children to play in a safe environment," he said.
"They will now be able to walk or jog in a place nearer to their homes."

Eviction delay that killed 16

By SOMAN BABY and SARA SAMI
THE COMPANY whose workers were living in the Gudaibiya labour camp where 16 were killed in a fire on Sunday was ordered six months ago to evacuate them, it was revealed yesterday.
The fire broke out three days after the end of a grace period granted to Royal Tower Construction to find them alternative accommodation, Manama Municipal Council chairman Murtadha Bader told the GDN.
He said the notice was issued in January and gave the company until July 27 to move the workers for safety reasons.
However, they were still living there on Sunday, when the fire broke out.
"I wrote a letter to the Manama Municipality in January to evacuate
this building in Gudaibiya because it did not comply with international safe
ty laws and regulations," Mr Bader told
the GDN. He described the accommodation, which housed more than 200 workers, as decrepit.
Mr Bader added that plans to relocate all labour camps from Manama for the safety of workers and their neighbours were already being discussed by the council.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Royal Tower Construction claimed arrangements were made last month to move the workers to a new camp in Sitra.
He added that they were due to be in their new accommodation by August 20. "We have been searching for an alternate accommodation for several months," said the spokesman.
"All the workers, who come from Tamil Nadu, wanted to stay together in the same place. "Finally, we found a convenient place with all the facilities in Sitra, for which we had paid an advance of BD9,000 after signing the agreement.
"We were making all arrangements there to move the workers on August 20." He said the building gutted by fire was supposed to house 160 people.
"However, some workers who live in one of our other labour camps in Manama used to come to the Gudaibiya building to spend time with their friends," said the spokesman.
"The number of more than 200 released by the police includes workers who came from the other accommodation the previous night.
"The building had 24 rooms, which could comfortably accommodate 160 workers." He said the Labour Ministry had not objected to wooden partitions being put up in the building, so that it could house more workers and claimed it was not a safety hazard.
He also denied allegations that the company used to take BD450 from workers to renew their contracts every two years. "It had been brought to our notice that a company foreman used to take money from the workers," said the spokesman.
"When he was caught, his contract was terminated and he was sent back to India. "The company never used to take any money from the workers."
Explaining why workers held CPR cards carrying the names of different companies as sponsors, the spokesman claimed all the workers were employed under the umbrella of two major companies - Royal Tower Construction and Connection Contracting. "We had made arrangements with some other small companies to work together," he added.