Bahrain plans $1.7m waterfront park in Tubli
Manama, July 20, 2014
Plans are underway to build a waterfront park and two walkways in Bahrain under a BD650,000 ($1.7 million) scheme.
The scheme has been given the green light by Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Dr Juma Al Ka’abi as part of a strategy drawn up by the country’s five municipal councils, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.
It includes constructing a 500 sq m waterfront park at Tubli Bay, which will feature a walkway, a green area and a playground.
Two other walkways will be built in east Zallaq and Hamad Town’s Block 1211.
Both projects will feature green areas, playgrounds, car parks and other facilities.
Ministry assistant under-secretary for joint municipal services Mohammed Noor Al Shaikh said they hoped the scheme would encourage property owners to launch similar development projects.
“We want property owners to do the same and renovate their buildings and land,” he told the GDN.
“The ministry has finalised the project’s blueprints and will open a tender to discuss implementing it.
“We have also settled on the contractors who will carry out the work and signed the contracts with them.
“The project is scheduled for completion after six months and the construction will begin in just two weeks.”
Al Shaikh said the new facilities met people’s needs in leading a healthier lifestyle.
“We have studied people’s needs and found that people are really interested in sports and walkways especially when they are located in waterfronts,” he said.
“The project will have other benefits in the long term especially the one in Tubli because it can attract investments in future and turn into a tourism spot.
“It can also create many job opportunities in restaurants and other facilities.”
The GDN reported in May that Tubli Bay has shrunk in size by a third in less than a decade due to illegal land reclamation in the area.
A Royal decree, issued in August 2006, determined the bay’s size as 13.5km – but this has now shrunk to 9km as landowners persist in reclaiming plots from the sea, in a bid to force the government to either allow development or give them compensation. - TradeArabia News Service
