Bahrain: Councillors in one of the country’s most impoverished governorates have vowed to take a stand highlighting the plight of more than 4,000 families living in dilapidated homes across Bahrain.
The Northern Municipal Council’s 12 members voted unanimously yesterday to begin a campaign of 30-second silence, once every week for the next three months.
They agreed to continue doing so until the government finds a way to fund a rebuilding programme similar to the His Majesty King Hamad Scheme for Dilapidated Homes, which was cancelled in 2012.
A total of BD5 million has been set aside by the Cabinet for this year and the next for a remodelling scheme organised under the Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry, but councillors claim that this is not enough and does not cover even a fraction of the homes affected nationwide.
“This is an important issue, a humanitarian issue, and we aim to shed light on it over the next three months,” said council chairman Mohammed Bu Hamood during the weekly council meeting yesterday.
“Standing in silence for 30 seconds every week is our way of showing that we are with the families whose houses are threatened with collapse at any moment.
“The Works, Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry’s budget doesn’t cover remodelling for all of the homes listed and we fear that if these are not fixed now then they will pose a danger in the future.
“Funding for this can either come from the savings that are expected to be made by cutting ministries’ and government bodies’ administrative and operational costs or through donations from the private sector.
“The government says that it is working to ensure people get proper homes, but it has to consider these cases seriously as they are in addition to and separate from the 60,000 families on the Housing Ministry’s waiting lists.”
Mr Bu Hamood added that any councillors who spoke during the 30-second silences without good reason would face being ejected from that meeting.
“This is the message we want to send to everyone in this country – whether officials, parliamentarians or citizens – that we care about the vote given to us and intend to serve in the best way possible,” he said.
“We want urgent action, it has to come, for the sake of all of those people who cannot find peace of mind under their own roof.”
The councillors now intend to contact their counterparts in the Southern, Muharraq and Capital governorates, in a bid to have them follow suit.
Around a third of Bahrain’s listed dilapidated homes are located in the Northern Governorate, housing around 1,800 families.
mohammed@gdn.com.bh
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