Homes protest continues
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 28th February 2008
MORE than 1,000 families from Nuwaidrat and neighbouring villages continued protesting for the seventh day yesterday over the allocation of government homes.
Their representatives will meet Central Municipal Council chairman Abdulrahman Al Hassan today to discuss the issue.
Housing Civil Committee representative Abdulkhalik Ebrahim Qambar said nobody had approached them and that they were still protesting.
Homes protest continues
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 28th February 2008
MORE than 1,000 families from Nuwaidrat and neighbouring villages continued protesting for the seventh day yesterday over the allocation of government homes.
Their representatives will meet Central Municipal Council chairman Abdulrahman Al Hassan today to discuss the issue.
Housing Civil Committee representative Abdulkhalik Ebrahim Qambar said nobody had approached them and that they were still protesting.
“If nothing happens after the meeting with Mr Al Hassan, we will start thinking of other measures, which we will announce at a later stage,” he said.
On Sunday evening, some of the families continued protesting despite the Central Municipality removing their tents from the protest site.
Municipal officials said they had not been shown any kind of proof that the families were granted a licence from the Interior Ministry to erect the tents, which the protesters were using during the day.
However, residents said the ministry had granted them a licence legalising their protest and also allowing them to set up tents.
The families are protesting outside a BD21million vacant housing project in Nuwaidrat until it is “justly” allocated to residents of Nuwaidrat, Ma’ameer, Eker and Sanad.
They claim that it has been promised to a group of MPs for people in their constituencies, which they say lie outside their four villages.
This allegedly followed a call for a share in the project by MPs Abdulatif Al Shaikh, Salah Ali, Jassim Al Saeedi and Abdulhalim Murad.
The families claim they were promised that 50 per cent of the project would be allocated to Nuwaidrat residents and the remainder to the other three villages.
The families recently learnt that only half of the project would go to the four villages, while the other half would be allocated to other constituencies.
The families have sent a petition disapproving the new move to the Royal Court.
The Housing Ministry and Mr Al Shaikh, Mr Ali, Mr Al Saeedi and Mr Murad were not available for a comment yesterday.
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