DESPERATE landlords and business owners in a newly urbanised district in the north of the country are calling on the government to provide much-needed infrastructure and cleaning services.
A petition by 200 business owners has been referred to Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf to urgently build roads and sewage networks, and install lamp-posts in Hamala.
They are also demanding that piles of garbage that have been left untouched for months be cleared, and rain puddles near their shops, workshops and buildings be drained.
Plots in the area near the old pipelines are owned by inheritors of a royal family member and are leased on 30-year development deals.
The ministry had earlier informed MPs and the Northern Municipal Council that it could not carry out an infrastructure work on private property unless surrendered for public use.
The area has warehouses, workshops, garages, scrap yards, spare part shops, restaurants, cafés and labour accommodations.
“Our businesses are all officially approved and signs on the wall attest to that,” said 40-year-old business owners group leader Ahmed Mohammed, who owns aluminium and glass workshops.
“We have paid up to BD10,500 as infrastructure levy before being given commercial registrations (CRs); the government has collected a total of BD1 million from landlords and business owners to develop the area.
“It has been five years since this district has been urbanised and still there are no roads, sewage lines or lamp-posts.
“Even garbage is piling up and just a few days ago we were unable to enter our businesses with two-metre snakes crawling in front of our shutters.”
Abdulla Dallas, a 41-year-old landlord with four labour accommodation buildings, said several vehicles have got stuck in accumulated rainwater that has not been drained for the past two months.
“We landlords collected around BD4,000 and paved part of the road for easy access for labourers living in the area, workers and customers,” he said.
Meanwhile, shop buildings investor Ali Ibrahim, aged 43, said rents in the area were lower because people can’t access the district.
“A shop should be rented for BD200 a month, but we are renting it for BD50, because the road is bumpy and full of rocks, glass shards and wooden splinters,” he said.
“No one comes at night and we have to close when it comes dark. When we tried to install lighting, we were informed by the Electricity and Water Authority that unless the roads get paved no lamp-posts will be installed.”
Mohammed Al Abbas, a 64-year-old owner of three buildings, said sewage smell in the area was so unbearable that he was finding it difficult to lease property.
“Expat labourers from across the country have now moved to Hamala because we give affordable accommodation rates but with a large population there is an overflow of sewage,” he said.
Investor Abdulla Al Ali, aged 54, said cheaper and better quality services are being offered in the area which is why customers from even Saudi Arabia visit the district for wood, aluminium and glass.
“Unfortunately, after initially visiting our shops they prefer to communicate via phone or ask us to meet in a café somewhere,” he said.
“The place is in an appalling and embarrassing state.”
Area MP and Parliament public utilities and environment affairs committee vice-chairman Ahmed Al Demistani said a clarification on amounts collected would be sought from Mr Khalaf. “If these investors, business owners and landlords paid infrastructure levy and municipal fees then they are entitled to what they have paid for,” he said.
“Piling garbage or leaving the place undeveloped is not the way forward.”
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