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.