Council seeks maximum income-rule exemption for fire-damaged homes

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

The Southern Municipal Council has agreed to press for a change in the income rules for fire-damaged homes under the Cities and Villages Development Project, after backing a proposal to lift the current BD800 ceiling in such cases.

Councillors voted yesterday to write to the Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, asking him to amend the project’s guidance manual so that families whose homes are damaged by fire, and whose cases are confirmed by a Civil Defence report, are exempt from the maximum-income condition.

All other requirements on ownership and proof would remain in place.

Applicants

Under the existing rules, applicants for home maintenance, rainproofing and fire-related repairs must have a basic salary plus social allowance that does not exceed BD800. The service cap is set at BD10,000.

According to the council’s study, this can leave families who earn just over that limit facing high repair bills after a blaze, even though they have no realistic way to plan for or absorb such costs.

The proposal, submitted by councillor Abdullah Darraj, would lift the income ceiling for fire cases across all projects covered by the scheme in Bahrain.

Documents

Eligibility would rest instead on documents and reports already required by the municipality: a Civil Defence report confirming the incident and the extent of damage, proof of ownership, the home address in official records and an electricity bill showing that the property is the main residence.

Darraj said that fire incidents are sudden, cause serious damage to key parts of a home such as wiring, plumbing, floors, finishes and sometimes structural elements, and can leave a building unsafe or unfit to live in.

He argued that such cases amount to an emergency, regardless of what the household earns, and that support should hinge on the nature of the incident and the condition of the home rather than income alone.

Programme

Darraj said the home-maintenance programme overseen by the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, in coordination with municipal councils, offers important help to Bahrainis and that repairs funded for fire-damaged homes act as “a lifeline for families that have suffered psychological and financial shock” following sudden house fires, helping them return to normal daily life and stability.

The reasoning attached to the proposal states that removing the income cap in fire cases does not sweep away controls. Instead, it places more weight on the existing checks, which are designed to verify that the applicant owns and lives in the damaged home and that Civil Defence has recorded the fire and its impact.

It notes that disasters such as fires affect low- and middle-income households alike and that assistance should not be withheld simply because a family’s income is above BD800 once its main home has burnt.