The councillors are working to finalise a deal to turn Bahrain's biggest public beach into a major tourist attraction before their four-year term ends in December, said a report.

The Southern Municipal Council has approached Edamah, a government-owned real estate company, to come up with development plans for Al Jazair Beach, which councillors claim has been turned into a dumping ground and people have been committing "immoral" and "indecent acts" at nights, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

It initially wanted authorities to return the deeds of the land to the Southern Municipality from Edamah, claiming the company has not carried out maintenance and remodelling work for more than four years, despite plans being drawn up by the council in 2010.

However, councillors have made a U-turn and are willing to support Edamah build development projects including resorts, restaurants, theme parks and recreational facilities on the condition that the seafront remains a public space.

"Nothing has been done over the past four years since the deeds have been transferred to Edamah," council chairman Mohsin Al Bakri told the GDN.

"We don't want ownership transferred again because that has fallen on deaf ears - we just want to reach a real deal that sees the place developed," he stated.

"Negotiations are the solution and we are not in dispute with Edamah. We are looking for real plans that will materialise into reality that satisfies us and them - we have called them for several meetings but they never showed up, but we hope the situation changes now," noted Al Bakri.

"We want the place turned into a recreational area and tourist destination, but the beach has to remain public so that people can use it freely for swimming and hopefully a deal will be reached before we leave office in December," he added.-TradeArabia News Service