Don't cut our palms
Thursday, December 23, 2004
You might remember a while ago I wrote about the historic 'Ain Umm as Sujoor freshwater spring and the need to protect it. You might even recall when I wrote about the need to protect the greenbelt of palms that runs across the northern coast of the island. Well its obvious that the government doesn't read (or agree with) my blog. According to Sayed Alawi Sharaf, a member of the Northern Municipal Council, plans are being made for a highway to be built right on top of the ancient well and cutting through the greenbelt.
The GDN reported yesterday:
Families will protest tomorrow against plans for a highway they say would scythe through the villages of Diraz and Barbar.
They are ready to stand in front of the bulldozers to protect their homes, says local councillor Sayed Alawi Sharaf.
The residents want plans for the road to the new Northern Town to go back to the drawing board.
They have submitted a petition to the Northern Municipal Council, rejecting any road that would cut through the villages. (Continued)
So I went to the protest today to see what exactly the fuss is all about. They were handing out plans of the proposed road, which you can see below (click image to enlarge, jpg 746KB):
The original map is in black and white, but I added colour to make things easier to see. Um as Sujoor is circled in blue, there is an intermediate school shown in green, and the proposed new highway is marked in red. You can see that the planned highway will be right next to the school which is another serious problem. Asides from this the people were obviously concerned about having a highway going right through their villages, creating pollution, noise and generally upsetting the tranquility of the residential area. It was claimed that about 70 homes will have to be demolished in the process, for which the owners will only be compensated with 70% of the value in cash. A proposed alternative to cash compensation is the promise of a home in the new Northern City (for which the highway is being planned)... however no one is really pleased by this idea because construction on the Northern City has not even started, so currently its just a piece of the sea. And all those who own land on the route of the proposed highway are currentlynot being issued construction permissions to build homes from the ministry.
Apparently, there is an alternative route for the highway, but that has been shelved since it passes by land and homes owned by some rich and influential folks... typical. But more than the highway itself, I'm really uncomfortable with the proposed Northern City, and why we have to keep on reclaiming land on the northern shore. There's lots of empty land down south that can be developed, but we keep building new cities in the sea. I guess in the end it comes to back to those rich and influential folks who make sure none of their interests are affected.
Anyways, it was good to see people expressing their views freely at the protest. And I also bumped into an old friend who made an appearance in disguise:
And as usual, let me leave you with some photos of a few aspiring activists:
The following article was printed in the GDN on 22-Dec-04:
Highway protest
By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI
FAMILIES will protest tomorrow against plans for a highway they say would scythe through the villages of Diraz and Barbar.
They are ready to stand in front of the bulldozers to protect their homes, says local councillor Sayed Alawi Sharaf.
The residents want plans for the road to the new Northern Town to go back to the drawing board.
They have submitted a petition to the Northern Municipal Council, rejecting any road that would cut through the villages.
The petition has been submitted through their councillor Sayed Alawi Sharaf, who has called for the demonstration.
Earlier this year, council chairman Sayed Majeed Al Sayed dismissed claims that a road would cut through both villages.
He said it was one of the proposed new roads, but no decision had yet been reached.
Mr Al Sayed said then that the council would refuse it right away, without the residents even asking.
Mr Sharaf, who is the council's services and public utilities committee chairman, told the GDN yesterday that the demonstration was a clear warning to the government if it tried to go ahead with the plans.
"Residents will stand in front of bulldozers, if that means a halt to the construction of the new road," he said.
"I have seen the plans and the road will cut through houses and gardens and will divide the villages into halves."
Mr Sharaf urged residents to gather at Saar Roundabout, off Budaiya Highway at 3.30pm tomorrow.
"Every resident should be present there, because without your presence, these plans may go ahead," he said.
Mr Sharaf said residents would find it hard to find alternatives if their homes were demolished to make way for the road.
"Most have just built new houses after taking bank loans and tearing down their houses means paying money to the bank for a house which does not exist," he said.
"Even if the government compensates them, they will not include interest, which means thousands of dinars will still be paid by the owners."
The new BD1 billion town in the Abu Sobh Coastline area, will provide homes for 50,000 Bahraini families.
The 1,500 hectare town will include 30,000 homes for more than 150,000 people.
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Update (26-Dec-04): The GDN reported yesterday:
A planned highway leading to the new BD1 billion Northern Town does not cut through Ain Um Al Sajour, an historical site listed in the archaeological sites owned and protected by the Archaeology Directorate said Information Ministry Under-Secretary Mahmood Al Mahmood. He said the ministry has not been informed of any project that may disturb the site.
Well that's good to hear. The question then is why would Northern Municipality councillor Sayed Alawi Sharaf claim that the road is being planned to go over Um as Sujoor? And where did he get the map (shown above) from?
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 23, 2004 at 12/23/2004 06:20:00 pm. Permalink
12/24/2004 11:49:00 am
Apparently, Bahrainis have got a hang of this protest thing. Keep that, 'I'm not gonna take sh*t' spirit burning.
(I feel so proud of you guys I've got tears in my eyes. *sob, sob*)