BAHRAIN’S popular Isa Town weekend flea market could be reopened in Hamad Town, more than three years after it was shut down amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The Northern Municipal Council has presented a proposal to use the open space near the police station, post office, municipality compound and health centre at Roundabout 17 for the flea market.
A traditional shopping centre is set to be built at the site.
MPs earlier this year unanimously approved a proposal to reopen the flea market, claiming that the livelihood of 368 families had been badly hit after the traditional open-air market – a favourite with bargain-hunters – was shut down by the Southern Municipality in March 2020.
The site has now been taken over by a Bahraini investor who is planning to expand his hypermarket, adjacent to the original steel structure.
Over the years the flea market had gained notoriety as a place to buy stolen goods, exotic animals and pornography – and where food unfit for human consumption was also allegedly sold.
Earlier this year, the government rejected five locations proposed for the reopening of the market, with officials deeming the sites in Tubli, Salmabad, Askar, Umm Al Bayd and Sitra ‘unsuitable and inconvenient’ following inspections.
However, councillor Abdulla Shareeda Al Thawadi, who is spearheading the current proposal, said that fears of illegal, unhygienic or substandard items or food going on sale can now be easily averted as all the relevant authorities are nearby.
“Also, Roundabout 17 has vast open space that is not being used at the moment, and can easily help out 368 families who were making a living out of the flea market,” he said.
“Vendors only want some open space where they can put out a piece of cloth or place a small table and sell their goods.
“We can install portable toilets and even manage to get electricity or water connections; another option would be to allow buyers and sellers to use the washrooms in the nearby health centre.”
He said it was a win-win situation for everybody, with the government standing to make BD7,360 per month, if not more.
“We have solutions to every problem pointed out by the government and it is time a sensible approach is adopted to restore the market to its glorious status,” said Mr Al Thawadi whose constituency 10 covers eastern Hamad Town, where the market is proposed.
He claimed the closure of the open-air flea market has affected other businesses too.
“The Isa Town Traditional Market, which houses a number of shops for various items, is suffering from lower sales because the flea market was the biggest attraction and it is not there anymore,” he said.
“This has seen a hypermarket there close a few months ago and it seems an electronic store is set to follow suit as it has allegedly not paid its 36 employees for months – this is all due to the place losing out on business following the closure of the flea market.”
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