AN angry landowner blocked off a busy thoroughfare because he hadn’t been compensated by the authorities for turning his property into a public road.
The protesting Bahraini, who blocked off the ‘bottleneck road’ in A’ali, was summoned by the Northern Municipality to clear away the plywood he had placed blocking access, a council meeting heard.
Area councillor and Northern Municipal Council’s information and public relations committee chairman Hussain Al A’ali confirmed that part of the private land had been used as a public road.
“This location has been used for more than a decade and the owner blocked it off because he hadn’t been compensated for its use,” he explained during the council’s bi-weekly meeting.
“He was summoned by the Northern Municipality to clear up the alleged violation because people complained about the plywood blockage but he refused to budge as it remains on his private land.
“The segment of land falls within a group of homes and is a vital connection between various neighbourhoods, so we just want to make it an official road.
“The citizen has no objection for the land being acquired for the public benefit but it is his right to be properly compensated for his private land.”
Mr Al A’ali added that the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry’s Urban Planning Directorate had indicated an interest in acquiring the land. He proposed approving the acquisition and compensation request submitted by the owner.
A heated debate ensued between councillors over the legitimacy of the claim without any official submission of a grievance or acquisition request from the ministry.
“This is the first time I have seen a citizen asking the government to acquire part of his land which raises some questions,” said council’s technical committee chairman Abdullah Al Qubaisi.
“The government acquires the land for public benefit and then compensates the owners ... and not the other way around!
“The letter submitted to Mr Al A’ali doesn’t even contain a phone number so how can we verify the claim if we didn’t even see the blueprints, maps and actual location.
“It seems like a vague proposition and we need to verify the claims prior to approving these kinds of requests.”
Council chairman Ahmed Al Kooheji proposed postponing the vote until an official response is received from the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry.
Northern Municipality director general Lamya Al Fadhala assured the council that there is a specific budget allocated for compensation.
“There are three committees that review acquisitions and compensations and I am chairing one of these committees,” said Ms Al Fadhala. “They review the properties before and after acquisition, their urban planning, changes in specifications, as well as unplanned lands and compensations.”
Councillors approved seeking an official clarification from Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf regarding the land in question, the acquisition process and compensation matters.
They will also send a request for clarification over alleged violations registered by the Northern Municipality against the citizen for blocking part of his land.
- To help diffuse the situation, the GDN has been told that the plywood barricade was recently removed in the hope that the matter can be resolved amicably. The councillor added that the owner would be within his legal rights to block it off again should he feel another protest was warranted.
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