Yet another week goes by, with another MP’s call to change the image of Bahrain, by getting rid of expats, altogether.
No longer an Islamic state which has served all residents and the country well, but an Islamist state.
Easy-peasy, get rid of all the expats, the long-term residents who have made Bahrain their home, all those construction workers, domestic servants, experts, policemen, the menial, the congenial.
Halve the population, think of all the employment, brawny Bahrainis doing the heavy lifting, construction work, housework, policing the roads, malls to themselves, despite the lack of staff, hotels too, easy to get seats on Gulf Air, less time waiting at hospitals and clinics, fewer medical staff, easy to replace.
Maybe longer bank queues, quite a few will have closed down, moving elsewhere in the Gulf, leaving mere branch offices.
Fewer pesky tourists to clutter up the ports, airport and docks, the Ritz and Sofitel beaches, completely to themselves, villas aplenty for the family and relatives, none of that visa nonsense, do away with the LMRA (now there is a saving) and all of those expats off the roads, even though car dealerships have moved away too.
No need for facilities like additional sewerage, water, electricity, desalination plants, to be built, kiss goodbye to that intrusive F1 and airshow, trade fairs and exhibitions.
Even the coming of Gulf nationals, once Bahrain was different, now it’s just like home!
Dubai offers more facilities, discrete entertainment, plenty of good malls and restaurants, well policed and has a cleaner public environment.
Fortunately, wiser heads prevail, so the parliamentarians, well those few who actually turn up and sit in the chamber after lunch, can give full vent to their rants and wind-rush ideas.
The reality is that others in authority can implement or jump on the zany suggestions.
Like only having Islamic banks, which the Central governor says would be a “Disaster.”
Like making expats pay higher sewerage costs, Bahrainis exempted.
Who’s charged, when majority of expatriates, live in Bahraini-owned houses.
The Bahraini landlord will probably raise the rent, even make money on the requirement.
Bureaucrats, presumably, policing the public toilets to see who would go onto toilets, identifying expats in the malls, shops, Bahraini or expat?
Or does the overall levy cover that?
Back would be the street pee, the list goes on and on, the laughter too, that something as silly gets suggested, despite a clear infringement of Universal Human Rights.
On the sewerage issue, a veritable BD10, suggested on expats, despite the official from the ministry saying the minuscule amount would be a mere pimple on the millions needed for requisite sewerage work for new and rejuvenated areas, given Bahrain’s population growth and urban development.
The man was an expert; no wonder he shook his head.
Bahrain was always a friendly, welcoming country, where all residents were treated equally, abided by Bahraini laws and customs.
A type of apartheid, is not the answer.
wpeppinck@hotmail.com
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