THE much-awaited facelift for a landmark traditional market has been allegedly put on hold after a decade of administrative and financial delays.
The Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry had announced in June last year that the Isa Town Traditional Market would be revamped with thermal insulation and air-conditioning set up at a cost of BD1.4 million.
However, Southern Municipal Council services and public utilities committee chairman and area councillor Mubarak Faraj now believes the plan has been shelved since it has not been included in the 2023-24 national budget.
He told his colleagues at the council’s general-secretariat that it was apparent the ministry had no intentions to go ahead with the revamp at any time.
The market was designated as a tourist destination in 2016, but delays in improving its condition have hindered efforts to promote it.
“The revamp was estimated to cost BD200,000 when it was first announced a decade ago,” Mr Faraj pointed out.
“The expenses were set at BD1.4m last year and it could easily exceed that in current inflated prices,” he added.
“There is a saying, if someone doesn’t like something, they will just drag it on and on until the case is lost and I presume that is the fate of the Isa Town Traditional Market.
“The thermal insulation and air-conditioning project has not been listed for financing in the 2023-2024 national budget, so it could be brought up for negotiations in 2025. By then the cost would skyrocket to more than BD2m and the government will want to direct the amount to other vital projects.”
The building houses 580 shops selling antiques, furniture, electronics and household items. It is located within the bigger Isa Town Market Complex boasting 1,200 registered shops.
Mr Faraj said the marketplace has been attracting people from across Bahrain and the Gulf, but many rush out within a few minutes, especially in summer, owing to the intense heat and humidity.
“The marketplace is amazing with merchandise on sale at bargain prices; the only issue is that it is open and has no thermal insulation or air-conditioning,” he said.
“Had it been turned into a mall, I am sure more people would have been interested in visiting it for recreational and shopping purposes. It would have encouraged investors to build a second floor and open traditional restaurants and cafés where people can sit and enjoy their time.”
The current traditional market sprang up around 100 metres from its original location in 2014 following a massive blaze in which hundreds of shop owners were affected.
An earlier blaze in July 2012 similarly wreaked havoc at the complex.
Area MP Dr Mariam Al Dhaen expressed her displeasure over the decision to shelve the facelift, saying that delays over the years had contributed to the demise of the market.
“The Isa Town Traditional Market has the potential to be something much better and bigger,” she said. “This is not the way to treat the first modern market in the Gulf and it should have been given attention a decade ago, not now when the revamp cost has increased 10-fold.
“We will fight to reinstate the project as the market takes its rightful place as a national monument.”
The original market is the third oldest in the country after Muharraq and Manama, respectively, which were found more than 200 years ago.
The Isa Town market was opened in 1968 when the first batch of residents moved to the area, which has been termed the Gulf’s oldest ‘modern-style’ residential city.
Ministry officials were unavailable for comment on the issue.
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