Syed Hussein Al -Qassab
The Capital Secretariat Council agreed during its session yesterday with the unanimity of those present on the proposal to form a work team to support the Manama Market traders, after extensive discussions that stressed the importance of strengthening the community partnership and developing the market in a way that achieves the interest of merchants and preserving the urban and cultural nature of the region. This proposal aims to protect heritage identity and stimulate economic and cultural tourism through the establishment of a coordination team in cooperation with merchants and stakeholders to follow up the municipal and development services of the old Manama market. The proposal presenter, d. Abdel -Hassan Abbas, that the idea came in response to a realistic need, pointing to the success of previous initiatives such as “Retro Manama” to revive the market and reopen many shops. In its aspect, Council member Hoda Sultan stressed the need to coordinate between the council and merchants to find out pre -challenges and work to solve them before exacerbating them, citing the recent fire accident in the market that could have been avoided. The Municipality of the Capital, Muhammad Al -Sahli, that the purpose of the proposal is achieved through the relevant committees of the Ministry of Tourism, in addition to the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, by working to develop the market tourist and heritage in a way that achieves its goals in attracting tourists and preserving the heritage character in it. For its part, the Vice -President of the Council, Kholoud Al -Qattan, expressed its concerns about the multiplicity of bodies supervising the Manama market, which may slow down the development process, indicating that the multiplicity The parties would increase opinions on its development, but the installation of development and its preservation to a specific party would accelerate the process without the need for complete compatibility between these parties. The merchants, noting that it will be under the supervision of the council directly, and its performance will be evaluated after a specific period to take a decision regarding its continuity. On the other hand, the council member Fatima Al -Hajji asked a question about the representation of the residents of the region in the team, due to the presence of residential areas inside the market, as the decisions will prevail over all the region, stressing the importance of the presence of a representative of the people who live in the region.
