Bahrain Mirror: The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said that the government approach to establish 5 civilian, industrial and tourist cities in the areas of Fasht Al-Jarm, Fasht Al-Azm, Suhaila Island, the Gulf of Bahrain and Hawar Islands is an environmental setback that has implications on fish reserves and destroys a large number of Bahrain's fisheries.

In added in statement on (Tuesday, December 7, 2021) that the project to build residential, industrial and tourist cities in areas that constitute important natural oases is "unjustified and contributes to the elimination of the latest historical professions that constitute a space for thousands of families who depend on sea trade as a result of working conditions and unemployment in Bahrain."

The project also poses "a real threat to fish reserves, which have significantly declined in recent years as a result of burying areas of the sea and constructing housing projects in the middle of the sea."

It also considered that the government's announcement is contrary to its statements regarding preserving climate and environmental threats, while it is in the process of carrying out the greatest threat to nature, climate and natural oases that contain enormous marine wealth.

It continued: The elimination of fasht areas and natural spaces is in stark contrast to the strategic plans for biodiversity which Bahrain announced and sought to market internationally, besides some of these sites have been registered in UNESCO, especially since Bahrain is one of the signatories on the Convention on Biological Diversity. Al-Wefaq said that the 5th National Report of the Kingdom of Bahrain on Biodiversity has become a dead letter and has no value other than overseas marketing like all important vital files and topics. 

Al-Wefaq stressed that Bahrainis live in one third of Bahrain, while the other two thirds accommodate the five cities referred to without the need to encroach on natural oases, noting that there are uninhabited islands where such cities can be established, such as Umm an Nasan island, which is three times the size of Muharraq Island, indicating that this raises significant questions about ignoring the islands and resorting to natural sea oases. 

The society also pointed out in its statement that all projects to burry part of Bahrain seas to establish private housing islands and investment projects such as Durrat Al Bahrain, Amwaj, Nourana, Dilmunia and other projects didn't allocate any part to housing projects for citizens, but for private projects that yield hundreds of millions to private people's pockets. 

It revealed that all those invested islands and areas didn't add any money to the state general budget from the revenues of selling investment properties, which were built on burying spaces from sea. Nothing has been added to the state's general budget since Bahrain's independence in 1971 to date.

Al-Wefaq concluded its statement by referring to a model of revenues that are supposed to be obtained from the process of burying the sea and the sale of the property in the area opposite the coast of Karana which constitute about BD13 billion, noting that these huge revenues went into the pockets of powerful individuals who are above the law and above the state. It noted that if these areas were invested fairly, they would have helped save Bahrain from all its economic crises, debts and financial deficits. 

Arabic Version