Council clash seven defiant

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
MANAMA Municipal Council members yesterday clashed with their chairman, who is insisting that they stay in their cramped council headquarters.
The seven councillors want to move to other premises because four of them are stuck in one office, while three are without desks, more than a month after being elected.
Chairman Majeed Millad Al Jazeeri has ordered partitions to be installed in the meeting hall, so the three remaining councillors can use the space as offices.
Council technical committee chairman Al Wefaq's Abdulmajeed Al Sebea'a is already refusing to use the council headquarters, saying there is no room for him.
He is operating out of his original office as an engineer in a major engineering consulting firm and will soon rent his own office for council work.
Mr Al Sebea'a is attending general-secretariat, council and committee meetings at the council headquarters, and then going back to his original workplace.
The chairman and his secretary and the secretary-general have their own separate offices in the council premises.
There are two offices for clerks and one office with four tables, divided amongst the seven remaining councillors.
The council and the Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry are in one premises and the Manama Municipality is in an adjacent building.
Council services committee chairman Hameed Al Basri, who has his own desk, said he could not wait to move away from the place.
"I am fed up. Since coming here last month, I have felt I am inside a jail," he said. "Now, the chairman wants to move us all (seven councillors) to the meeting hall, to empty the room we are in, so it can be used by employees, who are also packed in offices.
"There are offices for council employees already set up in the meeting hall, which is also being used by the ministry for meetings, and it is very noisy since it has two doors, and people pass through it all the time.
Members of the general-secretariat office yesterday voted unanimously to move out, despite rejections from the chairman and secretary-general Jassim Redha.
The general-secretariat office comprises the chairman, vice-chairman, four committees' chairmen and the secretary-general.
Mr Al Sebea'a said councillors were unhappy with the way things were being managed in the council.
"I am the only committee chairman with no desk, since the four available tables are being occupied by the three other committee chairmen and the council vice-chairman," he said.
"All of us want to move and we will push for it, even if it means that the ministry takes over the place.
"Moving into another building will ensure we can organise our staff, hire more and ensure an office for every two councillors.
"Even if it is far away from the heart of Manama, the most important thing is our peace of mind and the ability to do our work without any hustle and bustle."
Mr Al Sebea'a said former Municipalities and Agriculture Minister and current Shura Council chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh had agreed to give the council the ground floor of the building, which was later tendered for renovation.
But he said this has been stopped by the new Minister Mansoor Bin Rajab.
"I don't know the reason behind this decision, but the ministry is using a building that's not theirs in the first place, since the building has been the property of Manama Municipality since 1919, when it was first formed," said Mr Al Sebea'a.
"The ministry has no premises, considering that its building should be provided by the Finance Ministry and from what I know there is none allotted for it.
"It has taken over the municipality building and it should leave and find somewhere else."
Mr Al Jazeeri said the ministry was waiting for them to give up the place.
"Former council chairman Murthada Bader had been fighting for us to stay in this historical building over the past four years and we managed to achieve a lot, with nine councillors packed in one office and the chairman having his own," he said.
"The ministry wants us to leave so it can occupy the place, because it too is desperate to expand.
"I believe the current premises is strategic as it is located in line with the ministry and the municipality.
"If we leave, we would be far away, which means instead of visiting officials' offices nearby, we would have to take a long drive."
Mr Redha said moving out would be inconvenient. "It means we would need to employ drivers and more employees, considering we would have more duties," he said.
"We are now depending on municipality employees to do some of our jobs, so if we move, we would face difficulties.
"The place we are in is strategic because the officials we need are on hand but if we move to Juffair or Umm Al Hassam, it will take us more time."
Mr Redha said it was still unknown why the refurbishment plan for their premises had stopped, although approved by the previous minister.
"It would just cost BD20,000 and our premises would become like that of the ministry," he said.
"The part we are in is old and crumbling, while the part the ministry is in looks amazing, because it is renovated every year.
"If the place is given the attention it needs, then we would not need to move, since the ground floor too would be given to us, which is currently unused." Councillors Sadiq Rahma and Khamees Al Rumaihi are the others without desks.

Seeking more space

NGOs may move out of Adliya districtBy Titus FilioStaff ReporterNon-governmental organisations (NGOs) occupying spaces in government-owned apartments in a section in Adliya may be moving out soon.Some society heads cited the need for more space while others lamented the place is in need of repairs although they are clueless on who should be responsible for providing the budget to redevelop the whole area.The area covers some three blocks with more than twenty three-storey buildings. These buildings were used during the 1980s as a housing facility for expatriate workers in ministries and government agencies.The area, by the late 1990s, had become a landmark – an “NGO District” – providing headquarters to some 40 non-governmental organisations and professional societies.But some of the organisations in the area are already scouting for other options to establish their base.The biggest organisations include the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) and the Bahrain Society of Training and Development (BSTD). Officials from both organisations said there are already plans in their respective societies to move out.“The place has been our home for many years but it has become small for our growing organisation,” said GFBTU Chairman Abdulghaffar Abdulhussein.“We do have plans to develop our own headquarters somewhere else. We are looking to do that in the very near future,” he said.The GFBTU holds periodic meetings in one of the buildings that they occupy in the outer section of the area. They use practically the whole building but their rooms can only accommodate a maximum 50 people for every meeting they hold in any of the rooms. The federation has more than 50 member trade unions under its umbrella.BSTD Chairman Hussein Ibrahim told the Tribune that their board had outlined plans to develop its own site last year.He said they would vacate the BSTD premises as soon as their new site is completed.They occupy a building adjacent to the GFBTU.“This is the project of the new board and we hope to have our own headquarters within the next two years,” Ibrahim said.“Some buildings may need repair work too but we are not too sure if this place will still be maintained,” said a board member of one of the societies in the area.“The place has been a lot of help to us but some societies here do not have their own money to do renovation on their own or develop their headquarters,” he said.Some of the most prominent organisations headquartered in the area include the Bahrain Human Rights Society (BHRS), the Bahrain Bar Society, Consumer Society, Sociologists Society and the offices of a children’s charity fund.Last week, at the height of bad weather, members of the BHRS and the Sociologists association had to struggle through flooded corridors because of problems with toilet drainage in their area.Some parts of the area are also flooded during heavy rains.The buildings were actually designed as residents and not for long-term use by societies.Parking has become a problem for many whenever there are big meetings hosted by the societies.The associations occupy the buildings by virtue of a law which specifies that the Government must provide headquarters to recognised organisations.It is an almost autonomous section in the area and even the Manama Municipality exercises a “hands off” policy over the area.“The area is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works but the Ministry of Social Affairs also has some responsibility over the area,” said Jassim Redha, secretary at the Manama Municipal Council. “We know that many organisations are facing difficulties now because the place is small for their functions,” Redha said.“There is yet no definite build-up project in the area but surely it will still have its useful purposes even if it is vacated by the NGOs,” he said.There are more than 200 recognised non-government organisations and professional societies. Some of the organisations fund and operate their own premises while some are provided with space like those in Adliya.Some new organisations are still petitioning the government to provide them with

Top councillor without desk!

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
A LEADING municipal councillor and two colleagues are still without their own desks, let alone offices, more than a month after being elected.
Manama Municipal Council technical committee chairman Abdulmajeed Al Sebea'a and councillors Sadiq Rahma and Khamees Al Rumaihi have had to shuffle from desk to desk.
Now Mr Al Sebea'a is refusing to use the council headquarters, saying there is no room for him.
He is operating out of his original office in a major engineering consulting firm and will soon rent his own office for council work.
Mr Al Sebea'a is attending general-secretariat, council and committee meetings at the council headquarters, then going back to his original workplace.
The chairman and his secretary and the secretary-general, have their own separate offices in the council premises.
There are two offices for clerks and one office with four tables, divided amongst the seven remaining councillors.
The council and the Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Ministry are in one premises and the Manama Municipality is in a building adjacent to it.
"Can anyone imagine, the chairman of one of the council's four committees, without any table to sit at?" said Mr Al Sebea'a
"There are four tables in the office allocated to us, which is currently occupied by the three other committee chairmen and the council vice-chairman.
"Then people ask why I am not present at the council, why should I be?"
"I am willing to go to people's houses whenever they call me, or leave a message at the council. Other than that, staying in the council building at the moment is impossible.
"Whenever I want to send an urgent email, I am forced to ask one of the clerics to leave his seat, just to use his computer, which I feel is irritating them, considering they have work to finish."
Mr Al Sebea'a is now planning to open his own office in Mahooz within the next three weeks.
"I am planning to rent out a flat in a new building there, a place where residents would be able to find me, other than the council," he said
Mr Al Sebea'a said that the former Municipalities and Agriculture Affairs Minister and current Shura Council chairman Ali Al Saleh had agreed to give the council the ground floor of the building, which was later tendered for renovation and equipment.
But this has been stopped by the new Minister Mansoor Bin Rajab.
"I don't know the reason behind this decision, but the ministry is using a building that's not theirs in the first place, since the building has been the property of the Manama Municipality since 1919, when it was first formed," he said.
"The ministry has taken over the building and they should leave it and find somewhere else, but this is impossible in a country where things are being done illogically."
Mr Al Sebea'a said people were making fun of the council, because it was in the worst part of the complex.
"The part we are in is old and crumbling, while the part the ministry is in, looks like a bank," he said.
"A regular department head there has an office bigger than that of our chairman, which is really irritating me."
Expansion
Mr Al Sebea'a said that there were plans to extend the current municipality premises, where the council would be moved to.
"The eastern part of the municipality would be developed, but it would take no less than three years before completion and until then we are being forced to stay here," he said.
Council chairman Majeed Millad Al Jazeeri said that Mr Al Sebea'a was being pushed to the verge of quitting, but he was committed to serving the people.
"I have asked the council's secretary-general to install partitions in our meeting hall, so the three remaining councillors can use the space as offices, especially Mr Al Sebea'a, who also has a lot of committee work.
"That was before going to Haj last month, but days after returning I was hospitalised and I just resumed work last Thursday.
"I will follow up the case and I am really sorry for any inconvenience Mr Al Sebea'a has gone through," he said.
Mr Al Jazeeri said that the ministry had offered to find the council alternative premises, but it was studying the options.
"This building is registered under the municipality and not the ministry, they are the ones who should leave, not us," he said.
"They are planning to expand and they say we are stopping them, while we are planning to expand and we believe they are stopping us.
"Until an agreement is reached, we are staying."

Vigilante threat to labour camp

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
VIGILANTES in a Segaiya neighbourhood are threatening to take the law into their own hands if 100 expatriate workers are moved into accommodation in the area. Violence is likely as the residents have a history of driving out groups of expatriate workers housed in the area, says a councillor. The residents are furious that a Bahraini businessman has rented two neighbouring homes, which he is currently renovating to house 100 workers. Manama Municipal Council has been trying to negotiate a compromise between the property owner, the businessman who has rented the buildings and the residents.
But the residents are adamant that they will drive the men out if they move into the homes.
Residents in the same area have driven out other expatriate workers by threatening to set their accommodation ablaze.
They have a history of violent clashes with expatriate workers housed in the area, area councillor and council technical committee chairman Majeed Al Sebea'a told the GDN yesterday.
"The expatriate labourers who were living here before, of whom many have left, have been doing many irritating and immoral things that the residents were upset with," he said.
"They tried to remove them peacefully, but they were unable to do so, so they resorted to force, which I believe is wrong.
"If they don't want these labourers, then I can't force them to accept them, even if the labourers don't break the law."
Mr Al Sebea'a said that 30 family heads out of 400 people had submitted a petition to the council, warning that if nothing is done, they will take action themselves. "They are threatening to stage demonstrations by the end of the week or early next week," he said. "There were plans before to turn the house into a school, but residents rejected the proposal and permission was never given. "I have met the businessman renting the place and he is willing to co-operate, but is unable to do so because he is obliged to fulfil a two-year contract." The businessman renting the two houses is former Shura Council member Ibrahim Nonoo, who told the GDN yesterday that he did not want trouble in the neighbourhood or any harm to his employees. "I am obliged to pay BD46,000 for the two-year contract and whether I stay or leave, I must pay it, unless the government forces me out," he said. "Mr Al Sebea'a is very keen on having the issue solved, but the residents don't want to compromise. "The new employees are expected to come in batches for my Basma Cleaning Company. "There is no legislation banning bachelor labourers living in residential neighbourhoods, but if the government sends me a paper saying otherwise, then the contract will be terminated immediately." Mr Nonoo said he was willing to sit with residents and promise them that his workers would not disturb the community. "Whatever the residents believe is wrong I will ask my employees not to do," he said.

Bay project hits traffic snag

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
MANAMA
PERMISSION to start construction work on the $2.5 billion (BD945 million) Bahrain Bay waterfront residential, commercial and retail district could be delayed by councillors worried over traffic congestion.
Manama Municipal Council wants to change the current proposed entrance and exit routes, saying they could create massive jams in an already congested area.
A council delegation led by technical committee chairman Abdulmajeed Al Sebea'a has urged Bay's officials to find alternate routes, or else it will not give them permission to start construction after reclamation work is finished.
"The current entrance, from near the Diplomat Hotel and exit from the Financial Harbour traffic light is a disaster, if we imagine traffic five years from now," said Mr Al Sebea'a.
"We are not against the project, which as an engineer I believe is magnificent, and this is why we want it to be completed smoothly, without any problems.
"The council takes its decision on whether to allow construction to begin or not from various ministries and government organisations and at the moment we have received no consent from the Works and Housing Ministry roads directorate."
He said that Bay officials were due to meet with neighbouring Financial Harbour and Bahrain City Centre officials to present them with an idea to construct bridges, which are away from congested avenues.
"It (the route) would start from Al Fateh Corniche and end at the Seef District, without flowing into the King Faisal Highway, which is facing huge traffic jams, considering that there are many routes leading to it," said Mr Al Sebea'a.
"We believe that the new adjacent route to be used by new investments on the other side of the King Faisal Highway will help ease congestion a little bit, but until the highway's expansion in 2012, I believe it would be a mess."
Bahrain Bay will include commercial, residential and retail properties, set around the waterfront, with the country's first Four Seasons hotel as the centrepiece. The development will feature outdoor cafes, shops, restaurants and residential properties from high-rise buildings, condominiums, villas and hotel-serviced apartments.
More than 25,000 people are expected to live in the finished development, which is being developed in an area of around two million cubic square metres, and is set for completion in 2011.
The development will also feature the new global headquarters for Arcapita, which is expected to be completed by 2008.
The project is a joint venture between Arcapita Bank and a private Bahrain-based investment group, made up of individuals whose identities are being kept confidential. Mr Al Sebea'a said he was worried about 25,000 more people using the road.
"This is in addition to thousands of workers going there every day," he said.
"We have been receiving complaints from people telling us to urge the concerned ministries to speed up expansion of the highway, because they are forced to wait in traffic queues for more than 45 minutes every day.
"Queues reach up to the Pearl Roundabout flyover and if more projects are built there, then there will be traffic havoc.
"This is why the Bay will be delayed, unless they come up with better routes."

Clinic plan is cleared

By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
MANAMA
A BAHRAINI doctor got the go-ahead to expand his clinic yesterday, despite three rejections by the former Manama Municipal Council. The new council voted unanimously in favour of permitting Dr Faisal Al Mahroos to add an extra half-storey to the clinic, as part of plans to turn it into a state-of-the-art diabetes centre.
But the councillors ordered him to instal opaque glass throughout the entire building, to
protect the privacy of neighbours.
Former Municipalities and Agriculture Minister and current Shura Council chairman Ali Saleh Al Saleh had instructed councillors to study the issue as a special case in November, after twice rejecting it.
Dr Al Mahroos received support from former area councillor and newly elected MP Sayed Jameel Kadhim, who urged his colleagues to reconsider.
However, he was absent during voting and the majority of councillors
voted against the doctor's appeal at the time.
The doctor has been trying to turn his four-and-a-half-storey clinic in Zinj into a five-storey clinic.
The council had already given him permission once before to increase the height to its existing four-and-a-half storeys, although zoning for the area limits buildings to three storeys.
Former councillors also ordered the doctor to instal opaque glass in his building, after neighbours informed the council they were worried about strangers peering into their homes.
Committee chairman and area councillor Abdulmajeed Al Sebea'a, whose committee studied the request, said new councillors had no intention of hindering the doctor, because his project was beneficial to the area.
"I have heard the former council has received complaints from the doctor's neighbours that his clinic is already towering over their houses and buildings," he said.
"I don't think that adding half-a-storey will make a difference, if the building is already higher than the rest.
"After investigating the case, I found that only two neighbours are complaining.
"Their concerns were genuine, but two aren't enough to stop a huge project. In the end, my job as area councillor is to ensure everyone is happy."
Mr Al Sebea'a - who is the engineer who originally came up with the drawings for the building - said it was already five-storeys on one side, which is near the residents, while the part in which the expansion is asked for, is near the main road.
"Dr Al Mahroos is a well-known diabetes doctor, who is trying to develop the services he provides to patients," he said.
"He has told me that he was planning to buy new hi-tech equipment, but had no place to instal it, so this addition to the building would help him."
"I regret the hassle Dr Al Mahroos has gone through over the past year, but this year is different and I hope he is happy now, after getting his permit.
Dr Al Mahroos was not available for comment.

New call to move expat workers

By geoffrey bew
A COUNCILLOR has called for bachelors living in Muharraq to be moved away from families, following complaints from residents.
Constituency seven representative Ali Al Muqla said problems had arisen after Asian men had been allowed to reside in several parts of the district.
He yesterday appealed to the newly-appointed Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Mansoor bin Rajab for help to tackle the issue.
The councillor raised the matter as the minister met politicians for the first time since the elections during a Muharraq Municipal Council meeting in Busaiteen.
"There are now areas where there are some bachelors living, most of them Asian and they are bothering the people, so we want to solve this problem," said Mr Al Muqla.
"We want a full study to look at putting them in certain areas away from families."
Mr Al Muqla said the problems with bachelors had been going on for around a year and it was steadily getting worse.
He told the GDN four Bahraini families living in Arad had complained about their bachelor neighbours, claiming they were noisy and disturbed them at 5am when trucks came to collect them for work.
Allegations have also been made about bachelors walking around near their homes wearing only their underwear.
However, Mr Rajab told the meeting there was little he could do because migrant workers had a right to live somewhere and Bahrain had a duty to comply with human rights laws and conventions.
He suggested senior members of all of the country's municipal councils meet to discuss the issue and come up with places in their areas where they would be happy to house bachelors.
Manama Municipal Council first mooted the idea of relocating expatriates into special zones following clashes between Bahrainis and Asians in the capital in 2004.
Then, Manama Municipal Council chairman Murtadha Bader said Bahrainis accounted for just 20 per cent of residents in Manama and that this would fall to 11pc within 10 years if current trends continued.
He told the GDN Bahrainis had complained that vice dens and bootleggers were turning their neighbourhoods into crime havens.