FAMILIES of security personnel who have died in the line of duty, injured veterans and Covid-19 front-line workers should be eligible for monthly municipal fee waivers, according to a municipal proposal.
This is the least that can be done for Bahrainis who have risked their lives to protect the nation, said Southern Municipal Council financial, administrative and legislative committee chairman Talal Al Basheer, who is behind the move.
Currently, Bahrainis can apply to the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry to get the fees changed from 10 per cent of the net monthly rent or separate electricity and water bill within their parents’ home to BD2.
This means that if the monthly rent is BD300, Bahrainis are paying BD30 as municipal fees.
The ministry has backed the new proposal but have asked the National Assembly and other concerned ministries and government authorities to formulate the necessary legislation.
“Waiving municipal fees for the families of martyrs and injured veterans is nothing compared to their great sacrifices,” said Mr Al Basheer.
“These heroes risked their lives catching terrorists and criminals and if they are martyred or have been seriously injured, they deserve our support,” he added.
“Whether it is BD2 a month or BD1,000, this is just a token of appreciation for the heroes.”
Council technical committee chairwoman Eman Al Qallaf said that Covid-19 front-line heroes also deserved the municipal fee waivers.
“Everyone who has contributed to the security, safety and well-being of the nation and its people deserve government recognition and municipal fee waivers are one of many that they can benefit from.”
However, council services and public utilities committee chairman Abdulla Abdullatif said the families of the heroes deserve much better.
“We are speaking here of BD2 a month, while the proposal should have been to exempt them from paying all municipal fees – be it for construction, repairs or any other – for life for the injured veterans or all the descendants of martyrs,” he said.
The proposal has been forwarded to Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf for review.
A Parliament proposal to exempt families of martyrs from paying water and electricity bills was rejected by the Cabinet in 2019.
At the time, the Electricity and Water Affairs Ministry had said that the Electricity and Water Authority was working to increase its revenues to become independent of government financial support, an aim achieved earlier this year.
Meanwhile, in March this year, the same council had proposed that the municipal fees waiver should include Bahraini women married to expatriate men with or without children residing in Bahrain; widowed or divorced Bahraini women; unmarried Bahraini women above the age of 50; Bahraini men with more than one wife living in separate homes; and divorced Bahraini fathers with custody of their children.
Mr Khalaf had told the councillors at the time that the issue was under consideration by the Cabinet’s Ministerial Committee for Legislative and Legal Affairs.
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