Demolition ordered

Higher court upholds ruling to raze Kuwaiti building
Sandeep Singh Grewal
Contributor

Name: Kuwaiti building
Age: 30 years
Address: Gudaibiya
Present status: breathing its last

The Kuwaiti building will be razed.
The High Civil Court yesterday upheld a lower court ruling and said the Manama Municipality could go ahead with its plan to pull down the ‘unsafe’ 11-storey structure.
The first three storeys have shops and the other eight have flats occupied by families.
“We are happy with the court decision. For months we had been waiting for this verdict,” the director-general of the municipalities, Abdul Karim Hassan, told the Tribune after the court proclaimed the verdict.
“The building is not safe to live in. It can collapse anytime.
“A huge fire some 10 years back had damaged the structure and since then it has been in a bad shape.
“The structure is weak and the Civil Defence Department has already confirmed in a report that the building is unsafe to live in. Walls have developed cracks. The ceiling is falling.
“The lifts are supported by additional steel reinforcement which won’t last long. How can we put the lives of so many tenants and shopkeepers in danger?”
“In 10 days we hope to secure the court order to ask the tenants to vacate the building. Surely, we would cooperate with the building management. But if they refuse, we will adhere to our rules and go ahead with our plans to demolish the structure,” Hassan said.
Till evening, tenants were yet to receive any communication on the court order.
“We have not received any information from the building owners. When I contacted the management of the building in the afternoon they said they were waiting for the court verdict,” said one tenant, after learning about the verdict from the Tribune.
Fifty per cent of Block A and 75 per cent of Block B are in use. The court decision will render many families homeless because they will not have much time to look for alternatives and shift,” he said.
Some residents were so enraged that they said they would not pay their rent. “I have been living in this flat for 10 years. Now I suddenly learn the building will be razed. I have two children. Where would I find a house and shift them?
“The rents for most decent accommodations are high. If I want a similar accommodation I would have to shell out more money.
“This is unfair. The building management should have given us advance notice to vacate. There are no laws that would protect tenants’ interests.
“We should be compensated. Many tenants and shopkeepers have spent a lot of money to maintain their shops and flats. Isn’t it the responsibility of the building management?” asked another tenant.
The Manama Municipality had moved a lower court for approval to bring down the building in July after the Civil Defence Directorate declared the building unsafe.
On August 27, the court ruled in favour of the council. Then the building owners appealed the High Civil Court.