Summer bill relief planned for single mothers

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Single mothers could get a break from electricity and water bills during the summer, under a proposal MPs will discuss on Tuesday. The plan is aimed at divorced women and widows who are raising children on their own.

The idea, submitted by MPs Lulwa Ali Al Rumaihi and Muneer Seroor, calls for wiping out utility bills from June to September — the months when power and water use shoot up because of the heat.

Al Rumaihi said the Constitution requires the state to support citizens in cases such as widowhood and protect them from poverty. She explained that single mothers often struggle with household expenses, and the high cost of cooling homes in summer makes things even harder. A summer waiver, she said, would ease the pressure and help keep home life stable for children.

Parliament’s Public Utilities and Environment Committee has supported the proposal and sent it forward with a recommendation to approve it.

However, the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA), in comments sent to the committee, raised concerns about cost and policy issues. It noted that Bahraini households with only one account already receive heavy subsidies — the first band of consumption is subsidised by around 90 per cent — making local tariffs among the lowest in the Gulf. EWA also pointed to existing support given through the Ministry of Social Development, which provides a BD10 discount on electricity and water bills for low-income families, rising to BD20 for larger households, homes with more than one family, or families that include a person with special needs.

EWA warned that offering a full summer waiver to one specific group could lead to similar demands from others, reducing its income and affecting future service improvements. The committee still backed the plan unanimously, leaving it to MPs to take the final call on Tuesday.