MPS are hoping to keep Bahrain’s largest public beach, Al Jazair, open to the public. They voted in favour of a proposal, submitted by MP Abdulhaleem Murad and four others, that supports a development ban on a stretch of coastline in Zallaq which was imposed by the Southern Municipal Council.
Following an eight-month battle to veto private projects on Al Jazair Beach, the Southern Municipal Council was informed that the coastline would be closed off to make way for investment projects worth millions of dinars.
Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf said at the time that private investment would go ahead because the government’s real-estate arm, Edamah, did not answer to municipal authorities.
“Edamah, through the ministry, offered 60 per cent of the beach for investment and 40pc for the public and then cancelled it and wants to take the whole beach for hotels,” said Mr Murad, who is also parliament’s second vice-chairman, during yesterday’s session. “Why do we have to go to the Saudi Arabian eastern province with our families to enjoy the coast, while we have several that are swallowed by VIPs for luxurious projects. “It is not a joke and the issue is serious, when a country known for its coasts has nothing to offer the public.”
In April this year, the Southern Municipal Council vetoed government moves to offer the beach to private developers due to fears it could restrict public access, the GDN reported.
However, a ministry official warned the plan would go ahead with or without council backing and in September Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) chief executive Shaikh Khalid bin Humood Al Khalifa declared tenders would soon be invited for private investment at the beach, as part of a broader strategy to develop coastal facilities nationwide.
The following month the council agreed to fresh talks on whether multi-million dinar development projects such as hotels, resorts, malls and tourist facilities should be allowed at Al Jazair. But when councillors were told last month that development would go ahead they referred the issue to the Cabinet for a final decision.
