16 August 2005
Large areas of the sea in Juffair are being allotted by the government to citizens not from Juffair, while Juffair residents have to wait - some of them for over 10 years - to have their housing requests approved, deputy Hassan Eid Bokhamas told Bahrain Tribune yesterday.
"Land prices in Juffair have gone up to about BD25 per sq. foot. There is a big demand for property in the area even from Gulf nationals in the region, thanks to its convenient location, the beautiful seaview, central location and the fact that in the area, known as 324, buildings can be built as high as 20 storeys or even more," he said.
"Therefore, people find it a good investment for business or residential purposes," he said, adding that "much of the sea area already allotted has been reclaimed by the owners and sold as plots at a sizeable profit. Overall, the price is too high for people of Juffair to afford." Bokhamas said he has discussed the issue with the Minister of Works and Housing, Fahmi bin Ali Jowder, who had been very cooperative and understanding, but said he was unable to do anything as both the open and reclaimed areas were now private property. The deputy added that the minister had suggested that if another tract of land in the area could be located for housing, he would support the project. "The government should take back at least some of the land it has given away and use it to build flats for a growing list of more than 100 people who have applied for housing," he added. "There is hardly any sea area left, and even fishermen have to go into very deep waters to fish," he said, adding that almost three quarters of Juffair had been built on reclaimed land. "Recently, I visited a site and saw workers filling in a sea area with truckloads of sand and was told that reclamation work was in progress. Apparently, the depth of that area is nine metres. I was told it would take two months to fill it in which would need 18,000 truckloads of 40 cubic feet of sand each. All this will affect the environment, the fish in the area and lead to overall pollution.
"Those living in the area are entitled to housing and we will bring up this issue again when the parliamentary opens in October." Bokhamas also said that according to the law, Gulf nationals could buy property in Bahrain whereas if a Bahraini decided to buy property in another Gulf country, the offer was not reciprocal. Therefore, he felt that Gulf nationals should be allowed only limited opportunities when they bought property for investment or residential purposes and that such a proposal was being studied by the area's municipal council finance committee. He also said he would consider getting residents to sign a petition, asking to be given priority for housing, to be submitted to the council as leaving the area and relocating elsewhere would separate them from their families which they were unwilling to do.
Large areas of the sea in Juffair are being allotted by the government to citizens not from Juffair, while Juffair residents have to wait - some of them for over 10 years - to have their housing requests approved, deputy Hassan Eid Bokhamas told Bahrain Tribune yesterday.
"Land prices in Juffair have gone up to about BD25 per sq. foot. There is a big demand for property in the area even from Gulf nationals in the region, thanks to its convenient location, the beautiful seaview, central location and the fact that in the area, known as 324, buildings can be built as high as 20 storeys or even more," he said.
"Therefore, people find it a good investment for business or residential purposes," he said, adding that "much of the sea area already allotted has been reclaimed by the owners and sold as plots at a sizeable profit. Overall, the price is too high for people of Juffair to afford." Bokhamas said he has discussed the issue with the Minister of Works and Housing, Fahmi bin Ali Jowder, who had been very cooperative and understanding, but said he was unable to do anything as both the open and reclaimed areas were now private property. The deputy added that the minister had suggested that if another tract of land in the area could be located for housing, he would support the project. "The government should take back at least some of the land it has given away and use it to build flats for a growing list of more than 100 people who have applied for housing," he added. "There is hardly any sea area left, and even fishermen have to go into very deep waters to fish," he said, adding that almost three quarters of Juffair had been built on reclaimed land. "Recently, I visited a site and saw workers filling in a sea area with truckloads of sand and was told that reclamation work was in progress. Apparently, the depth of that area is nine metres. I was told it would take two months to fill it in which would need 18,000 truckloads of 40 cubic feet of sand each. All this will affect the environment, the fish in the area and lead to overall pollution.
"Those living in the area are entitled to housing and we will bring up this issue again when the parliamentary opens in October." Bokhamas also said that according to the law, Gulf nationals could buy property in Bahrain whereas if a Bahraini decided to buy property in another Gulf country, the offer was not reciprocal. Therefore, he felt that Gulf nationals should be allowed only limited opportunities when they bought property for investment or residential purposes and that such a proposal was being studied by the area's municipal council finance committee. He also said he would consider getting residents to sign a petition, asking to be given priority for housing, to be submitted to the council as leaving the area and relocating elsewhere would separate them from their families which they were unwilling to do.
© Bahrain Tribune 2005
