A NEW initiative has been launched to revive the Karzakan coast expansion project that has been on hold for almost eight years.
Northern Municipal Council member Hussain Al Khayat is calling on investors to step in to get the project up and running.
According to him, the new development covering an area of 9,243 square metres will not only benefit the people of Karzakan but also those from nearby villages as there are very few public beaches in the area.
“We are working in co-ordination with the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry to prepare the drawings and detailed engineering plans for the Karzakan coast,” said Mr Al Khayat.
“The plans include the specification of areas for a walkway, restrooms, games, a restaurant and games hall, and other facilities.
“After co-ordinating with the authority concerned in the ministry and redrawing the area, 30 per cent of the coast has been earmarked for services.”
Mr Al Khayat thanked all the parties concerned for their co-operation in helping take the project a step closer to fruition and called for the prompt involvement of private investors to secure the necessary land.
He said the project was in line with the directives of His Majesty King Hamad to ensure sustainable development in the country as part of the Bahrain Vision 2030.
Plans to develop Karzakan goes back eight years when the foundation stone was placed by former minister and current Bahrain’s Ambassador to Oman Dr Juma Al Ka’abi, in 2011.
However, the plots required for the project were never purchased.
An ambitious project to create nine public beaches on the west coast of Bahrain got stalled in the wake of the 2011 unrest.
All nine of the locations chosen were privately owned, five of which were in Demistan, two in Karzakan and the others in Saddad and Hamala.
In 2014, Mr Al Ka’abi told the GDN that an estimated BD20 million had been kept aside to compensate landowners with property along the Karzakan coast and in the water.
But that budget was never allocated as the government faced a slump in oil prices later that year resulting in cuts to the national budget.
Public projects on the beaches were scheduled to begin years ago but were stalled following the outbreak of anti-government protests in 2011.
Foundation stones were laid at two sites by Dr Al Ka’abi on February 12, 2011 just two days before protesters took to the streets.
Retired ministry assistant under-secretary for common municipal services Mohammed Noor Al Shaikh later admitted it was a mistake to lay foundation stones before the plots were purchased.
ghazi@gdn.com.bh
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