Streetlights will continue to be the last service installed within provided government facilities whenever roads, sewage and rain drainage networks are completed in a particular area.
A long-running bid to cancel a requirement linking street lighting to the incomplete infrastructure works sequence has been rejected, with the Cabinet siding with the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) over the Muharraq Municipal Council.
The decision means the council’s renewed call to remove the infrastructure-related condition will not be adopted, despite concerns that residents in affected areas have been waiting for years for infrastructure projects to be completed.
The issue centres on areas where infrastructure works remain incomplete, including parts of Muharraq, where the municipal council argued that the delay in vital basic projects had created difficult living conditions for residents.
Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Ministry Municipalities Affairs Under-Secretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa conveyed the government’s response following consideration of the council’s insistence on its recommendation.
He said the matter had been examined in accordance with the 2001 Municipalities Law and referred to the relevant authorities before the Cabinet took its decision.
“The recommendation was considered by the competent authorities, including the EWA, and the matter was ultimately referred for the appropriate decision,” Shaikh Mohammed said.
EWA Electricity Affairs vice-president Ali Al Nemah said the authority did not support removing the infrastructure requirement.
The authority’s position was that the existing requirement was connected to the progress and completion of infrastructure works and could not simply be removed without taking into account the technical and operational implications.
“EWA’s position is that the infrastructure requirement should remain in place until the necessary works and related conditions are addressed,” Mr Al Nemah said.
The council, however, has argued that residents should not continue to bear the consequences of lengthy delays in major infrastructure projects.
Muharraq Municipal Council financial, administrative and legislative committee chairman Fadhel Al Oud, who proposed the move, said the council’s objective was to find a practical solution for communities where infrastructure projects could take years to complete.
“We are dealing with areas where residents have been waiting for infrastructure works for a long time. We need practical interim solutions that do not leave people with difficult conditions while they wait for major projects to be completed,” Mr Al Oud said.
The council’s documents highlight concerns over conditions in areas awaiting sewage projects, including poor lighting and visibility and the potential for accidents and other problems.
Councillors also raised concerns about stray dogs and the general impact of unfinished infrastructure on residents and surrounding properties due to darkness.
The dispute also extends to the practical requirements surrounding the installation of services.
During discussions with EWA officials, councillors were told that certain works, including lighting-related infrastructure, were subject to roads being paved as well as accompanying sewage and rain drainage installations.
This prompted the council to question why residents should have to wait for roads to be fully completed before other essential works could proceed.
Mr Al Oud said the council was seeking greater co-ordination between the relevant authorities so that one incomplete project would not unnecessarily hold up another essential service.
“The purpose is not to interfere with EWA’s technical requirements. We want the authorities to look at the situation from the residents’ perspective and determine whether work can proceed in stages where that is technically possible,” he said.
The latest decision is the culmination of a dispute that has appeared repeatedly in municipal records over the years.
Earlier Muharraq Municipal Council recommendations called for the infrastructure requirement to be cancelled, but the matter was referred to EWA and other competent authorities for consideration.
The council subsequently renewed its insistence on the recommendation.
The latest response confirms that the Cabinet has ruled in favour of EWA’s position, effectively closing the current municipal bid to remove the requirement.
“For residents living in areas where infrastructure remains incomplete, however, the decision is unlikely to end the debate,” said Mr Al Oud.
“Instead, the focus is now expected to shift towards accelerating infrastructure projects and finding practical interim measures to improve living conditions while residents wait for the long-promised works.
“Unfinished infrastructure should not mean unfinished solutions for residents.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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