Gold and jewellery traders claim they are being forced out of the Manama suq.

Some have already relocated to the UAE because their workshop permits were not renewed, according to Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Gold and Pearl Jewellery Committee head Mohammed Sajid Shaikh.

He said municipal authorities were increasingly refusing to renew gold workshop permits in the area based on health, environment and security issues.

Shaikh said the aim was to encourage jewellery workshops to move to other locations in Bahrain, but he warned the move could backfire.

'Several traders whose permits have not been renewed have already moved out of Bahrain to relocate to Abu Dhabi and Dubai,' he said.

The Manama suq has been a thriving centre for the country's jewellery trade for decades, with goldsmiths making necklaces, earrings, rings and other valuables in workshops located close to their shops.

'We have been told we should move these workshops, where we have been for the last 50 years, to other areas in the interest of environment safety and our security,' Shaikh told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

'Instead, we have called upon authorities to relocate them (gold workshops) together within the suq - or give them a special zone within the Bahrain Industrial Investment Park in Hidd.

'We can be environmentally-friendly anywhere in the country, but we have to stay together, preferably near where we have our businesses.'

He said jewellery manufacturers in the suq had formed their own community, even sharing equipment and manpower.

'One jeweller cannot afford all the machines so we each invest in one and then share them,' he explained.

'The same goes for skilled craftsmen.'

Meanwhile, leading gold and jewellery trader Mohammed Hussain Malim said the new policy was affecting businesses already reeling from the financial crisis and political unrest over the past two months.

'Relocating now would mean the end of the road,' he said.

The GDN reported yesterday that small jewellery traders had called on the government to slash compulsory Bahrainisation levels, saying they were unable to fill quotas because there were not enough skilled Bahrainis.

Shaikh earlier said Bahrain's gold industry lost an estimated $1 million (BD378,000) a day when stores were forced to close during unrest between March 13 and 19.

It is understood concerns about fumes from gold and jewellery workshops were responsible for the decision to stop renewing permits in the suq. Area councillor Sadiq Rahma said he believed the Health Ministry was responsible for the decision.

However, Health Ministry environmental health section head Abdulla Sitrawi said it had come form the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife.

Public Commission and Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

More than 15,000 people are said to be involved in the gold and jewellery trade in Bahrain.

Around 4,000 of them are goldsmiths, while the rest are associated with other aspects of the industry.

Approximately half of Bahrain's 600 gold and jewellery shops are said to be located in Manama.-TradeArabia News Service