Firm ‘raking in big money’ by running illegal car parking lo

An illegal car park facility is allegedly being run by a private contracting company in Manama for the past two years. Sources told Tribune that the owners of the firm charge customers per hour for parking their vehicles in the plot located near Bab Al Bahrain and “they have been enjoying a brisk business”.

Residents in the area said the plot belongs to a private owner, who has illegally turned it into a parking lot. “The owner was also running a company in the same area and initially the employees of the company were parking their cars here. But now it has become a public parking lot.” It is learnt that the company has ceased its operations following legal issues. “Many of the cheques issued by the company bounced.

There are over 30 cases with regard to non-payment of salaries,” sources said. Although Tribune published a report on this illegal activity over a year ago, no action has been taken by the authorities. Sources added that the company charges 300 fils per hour in parking fees. “This is the most expensive parking facility in the whole Kingdom. Generally, vehicle owners are charged between 100 and 200 fils to park their cars.

“This is the height of rule violation. We urge the authorities to take tough action against the company for managing a parking lot without having the required licence.” Manama municipality has confirmed that action will be taken against the company. The company representative could not be reached for a comment.  This violation comes amidst the Kingdom reeling under a parking crisis. There has been a huge demand from the part of motorists to allocate more land to solve the crisis.

The Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry says that steps are on to end the parking ordeal faced by many motorists, especially in Manama and Gudaibiya. The ministry has installed parking meters on a number of commercial roads across the Kingdom to prevent violations. According to the ministry, they are aimed at limiting the improper use of parking spaces by a certain group of people all day long, increase the number of spaces and organise parking on roads.

“A survey is also being carried out to confirm the number of houses overlooking commercial roads with an aim to provide each house with a licence to occupy a number of parking spaces for free,” the ministry had said.