We walked the dog today, oh boy.
A lucky dog who made the grade.
A Bahraini “refugee,” Harry Lime, a desert stray, now happily the Aussie dog, we took to Dog beach today.
Clean, white sand beach, water views, albeit distantly, to the container port on the shores of Botany Bay.
After a good walk, a bit of “dog socialising,” a brisk swim, beach digging, promptly gathered and binned his “dog’s business,” for the laws on beach littering are strict and severe, to a pleasant, nearby coffee shop with a clean bench on a grassy patch.
Tranquil and serene, relaxing mandatory, but for Harry Lime wanting to share my carrot cake!
So, I was very pleased to read the Northern Governate is proposing to create 25km of sandy beaches along Bahrain’s West Coast.
Sadly, not from the area in front of the eyesore Marina West (too hard to resolve basket), but from the Saudi Causeway bridge, going South to Jasra and Hamla.
Glee for me; long years, I strongly advocated Bahrain’s greater focus on beaches, leaning on tales from long ago, of day outings on Shaikh Isa’s Beach.
Long wondering too, how an island, surrounded by sea, could fail to have attractive public beaches, while large, private hotels, have them.
And the private beaches in Durrat too.
Ergo; It can be done
Sure, no surf, but a beach is about more than surf.
Northern Europeans flock to them, irrespective of the strength of the sun and their paleness of skin.
An ocean of lotion, just lie for a while, a cooling beach shower, clean change rooms and toilets, abundant nearby coffee shops, and tourists too, would come flocking.
Why Aussies, on their large island, true, with a plethora of the world’s best beaches, can even have some catering for dogs!
So I read on.
An idea, “talked about for yonks,” but that was before 2011; such talk stopped for other priorities and immediacies.
In 2014, a visionary governate, was budget allocated BD20 million, to meet foreshore compensation claims.
Then came the oil price fall, and no funds allocated.
So the proposal to have a 24kms public beachfront from the Causeway Bridge, has in my view, the snowball’s chance in hell, to be brought into fruition.
Even if the money was allocated, the compensation claims would likely lead to long drawn out court cases.
Sadly, it is precisely at times of austerity, the infusion of development funding is needed, “pump priming” for investors, and ultimately returns, from local enterprise and tourist spending.
You only need to look at the success of corniches and boardwalks all over the world, both during daylight hours and again at nighttime.
Especially were those coffee shops and restaurants offer relief from the torpor and heat of the day.
Employment for locals, orders for suppliers, staff needed to manage and service all, healthy walking along the coastal path for locals and tourists.
And perhaps, in time, a dog beach as well.
wpeppinck@hotmail.com