A BAHRAINI village overcrowded with garages, chemical warehouses and construction companies is set to be cleared out.
The move was sanctioned by the Northern Municipal Council under a long-term plan to turn Salmabad into a light industries and investments area.
It comes as councillors, who described the village as “a ticking time-bomb”, presented a proposal to address the growing number of such businesses in the area.
Dangerous
Council chairman Mohammed Buhamood acknowledged that it would be difficult to relocate the “dangerous businesses” from the area, but said new developments would in the future phase out the existing ones.
He said the area where the Coca-Cola Bottling Company and IKEA Bahrain are located have been designated for upcoming light industries and investments.
However, he did not elaborate on the new projects – adding that they were under negotiation at the Cabinet.
“Garages, chemical warehouses and construction companies have to be cleaned up at a certain point and with more light industries and investments coming in, they will eventually get phased out,” said Mr Buhamood.
“We have a long-term plan to enable the move with those dangerous businesses being taken elsewhere away from residential areas.
“The area may catch fire at any moment and there is no real emergency plan to prevent it from happening and there have been several disasters in the past few months alone in which several vehicles caught fire and a number of garages and warehouses went up in flames.”
The council is also in discussions with relevant authorities to tackle other problems facing residents in Salmabad such as road congestion, improper parking issues and stench from businesses in the area.
“We are working to ensure residents and workers living there are safe for now through temporary measures, while real solutions are being looked into to avoid catastrophes,” added Mr Buhamood.
“Action against those abandoning vehicles there and dumping toxic materials are being taken with us trying to ensure the place is clean.”
The decision has been referred to the Cabinet for review.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))