A widow, who has seven children and is a grandmother to 10, is still waiting for a new house almost two decades after the family home in Old Muharraq was demolished by the government with an intention to rebuild it.
For five years, from 2005 to 2010, Mariam Hammad, aged 64, and her husband were moved around apartments.
After the death of her husband due to chronic illnesses, she moved in with one of her sons in his social home in Hamad Town.
However, now that her son’s children have grown up, Ms Hammad says that she feels she is a burden on her son.
The ownership deeds of Ms Hammad’s empty plot on where her house stood
“I just want to return back to my Muharraq Station in Old Muharraq, I miss everyone there from relatives and neighbours,” Ms Hammad told the GDN at an extraordinary Muharraq Council Meeting yesterday where her case was highlighted by area councillor Dalal Al Meghawi.
“We were asked to leave our home because it was deemed dangerous in 2004 and the government shouldered the BD200 monthly rent of the apartment we moved to in 2005,” she added.
“When it was our turn for the government to rebuild our home, which they had demolished, we were told that we own another family home in Hamad Town.
“So why did they take us out from our home and have us sign papers when they didn’t want to rebuild it?”
When confronted about the case by the GDN in 2012, the then Housing Ministry officials claimed that the family wasn’t on the list of beneficiaries for homes revamp.
An investigation by the GDN also found that the family was not listed.
However, another evidence surfaced at the time from council documents of the family receiving BD200 rent allowance per month.
His Majesty King Hamad Scheme for Dilapidated Homes – which was originally a grant under the Royal Humanitarian Foundation and was overseen by the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry – was turned into a loan-based scheme under the Housing and Urban Planning Ministry following a Cabinet decision in 2011.
The government previously allocated millions of dinars to an initiative to rebuild rundown properties under the scheme, which was first launched in 2003 but was plagued by delays.
“My late husband waited for years to return back home, he had faith, but death didn’t give him time and I don’t think it will spare me time either for a new home to be rebuilt,” said a heartbroken Ms Hammad.
“We have explained several times that the Hamad Town home is for my son and is now owned by several inheritors – not my deceased husband.”
Ms Al Meghawi pointed out to the council that there were many other cases such as Ms Hammad’s where the government has demolished homes but not rebuilt as promised.
“Ms Hammad is a strong example of things going wrong and there are many families faced with the same ordeal, as in the case of three homes in Dar Kulaib in the Northern Governorate,” she said.
“The government needs to do something and something fast to close down those files with satisfactory conclusions.
“The case was brought to light as Ms Al Meghawi found that the empty plot was turned into a garbage dumping ground.
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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