A public park built on 4,880 sq m, and featuring basketball and volleyball courts, a football pitch, family zones and children's rides, is set to open today (June 6) in Bahrain.

The BD223,000 ($592,000) park will officially be opened today in Shakhoora, and will be maintained by volunteers. It will be the fourth park in the Northern Governorate to be completely run by Parks Friends since the voluntary parks protection scheme was launched in March.

"We have to think fast and efficiently and live up to people's expectations," said Northern Municipality director-general Yousif Al Ghatam, who transferred from the Manama Municipality in January.

"When I came to the Northern Municipality there were ideas for new public parks, but I made them a reality through a strong plan and in just a few months four others will also be opened.

"I didn't just want the parks to be run by us, but I brought in the Parks Friends scheme from my tenure in the Manama Municipality and changed the concept to be in line with the Northern Governorate.

"Today, we have four Friends groups in four parks besides others who have come forward to have their own groups in existing parks.

"Friends are responsible now from A to Z and we are just present to do daily cleaning and maintenance work, while other issues related to protection and campaigns are being handled by volunteers, who are also helping with feedback on further projects at the parks."

Al Ghatam said authorities had to think out of the box when it came to implementing such projects as they should go in line with Bahrain's Vision 2030.

"We are working with the Northern Municipal Council to achieve people's ambitions not just for a few years, but up to 18 years from now and beyond," he added.

"People are our main source of motivation and today 'Friends' are helping usher us ahead and hopefully we will have more participation from the public as we introduce other schemes." – TradeArabia News Service