MPs to vote on fund to revive ageing neighbourhoods

TDT | Manama
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

An ambitious plan to set up a government-backed fund to redevelop Bahrain’s ageing neighbourhoods goes before Parliament on Tuesday, amid a muddle of support, doubt, and warnings about passing the buck to private donors.

The fund, if approved, would draw on both public money and private backing to revamp rundown residential areas that, despite being densely populated, have for years been starved of serious attention.

Services are patchy, infrastructure is crumbling, and planning has been piecemeal at best.

MP Hamad Al Doy, one of five behind the proposal, said many of these areas had been left behind.

“They house large numbers of people but often receive improvements that are either too little or arrive far too late,” he said. The aim, he added, is to raise living standards, improve basic services, and get these places closer to what the rest of the country already takes for granted.

“The aim is to raise living standards, improve basic services, and get these places closer to what the rest of the country already takes for granted.” - MP HAMAD AL DOY

Public
The proposal is backed by a parliamentary committee, which said the plan made sense and would benefit the wider public. Alongside Al Doy, the other MPs behind it are Mohammed Mousa Mohammed, Hassan Ebrahim, Abdulwahid Qarata, and Bader Al Tamimi.

The Capital Municipal Council gave the plan its approval. The Southern Municipal Council backed it too, with a few caveats — the fund, they said, should also help pay for demolishing unsafe homes and fixing up villages. But the tone shifted elsewhere.

The Muharraq Municipal Council rejected the idea and questioned the legality of setting up a fund that leans on private backers. It suggested instead that the state take a phased approach to funding, pointing to the example of redevelopment already taking place in Muharraq.

Claims

A split vote, warning that the scheme could shift responsibility away from the government. The Northern Municipal Council said much the same. The Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture pushed back at claims that little was being done. It pointed to 207 recreational spots dotted across the country and outlined a list of projects: the Water Garden overhaul in the capital, the Muharraq Grand Park, the Alhunayniyah Well project in the south, and the newly opened Barbar Park in the north.

It also flagged efforts to improve green spaces, revamp traditional markets in tandem with private firms, and keep the streets clean through waste contractors and street sweepers.