MANAMA, 9 January 2005 — Bahraini Works and Housing Minister Fahmi Al-Joder will face questioning by Parliament over the deteriorating housing situation in the Dair village, which is located on the second largest island in Bahrain Muharraq just north of the capital, according to the area’s Parliament representative. MP Ali Al Samaheji made this announcement during a protest by hundreds of residents of the area on Friday afternoon to demand proper housing.
His statement coincided with an announcement from the Muharraq Governor, Salman ibn Isa ibn Hindi, who met with the protesters and revealed that a meeting with the King, Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al-Khalifa, will be organized in coming days to present their grievances.
“The meeting is part of a number of audiences for the area of Muharraq people to meet with the king,” he told protesters
Hindi told protesters that he agreed with them that the housing projects in the area and the government’s financial assistance were not enough to meet their needs.
MP Al-Samaheji said that he had presented a proposal to Al-Joder to address the issue.
“Following the protest I will be asking the minister to clarify the situation to us in Parliament,” he said.
“If we find that he does not satisfy us with a clear solution we will launch an investigation into the issue”.
The Bahraini Parliament had approved to raise the financial allowance for the Ministry of Housing to BD 75 million from BD 35 million for fiscal 2005-2006 to address housing issues, according to Al-Samaheji.
Members from the local committee that organized the protest said that they would not agree to having MPs or representatives from the municipal council present during the audience with the king.
“They have done nothing to help us and many of them used their position to benefit from it,” said committee member Sheikh Hamza Al-Dairy
“MPs have been busy asking for diplomatic passports for their children and demanding health care insurance and failed to address the people’s needs”
The government had originally allocated partial housing benefits for the area residents in a nearby 1,500-unit housing project, but later these homes were re-allocated.
Some of the protesters had requests for housing assistance dating back more than 16 years and many of them live in a one or two bedroom homes that shelter families of 8 or more.
Committee member Hussain Jaffer said: “They have been reclaiming the sea and granting the land to non-area residents until the prices sky rocketed and we can not afford to buy anything here”.
Residents say that reclamation did not benefit them even partially, adding that it only caused harm to their fishing community.
According to unofficial figures there are more than 35,000 requests for housing or financial assistance pending at the ministry.
Another protest by people who sought housing assistance since 1992 and their families are expected to take place today in front of the prime minister’s court.
