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.