Rainwater floods Isa Town houses

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

More than 40 complaints were reported after rainwater entered homes in parts of Isa Town, prompting criticism from members of the Southern Municipal Council.

They said poor coordination between the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and the Ministry of Works had slowed the response.

The Southern Municipality said its 20 tankers were being sent out by need, priority and the amount of rainfall.

The complaints came from the second constituency in Isa Town, covering blocks 809, 812, 813, 814, 840 and 841, where council member Mubarak Faraj said residents had spent the past week dealing with water around their homes.

Response

“I contacted those responsible at the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs, but I found no response from the departments concerned, and they do not answer calls,” Faraj told The Daily Tribune. “The suction vehicles are not there, and we keep chasing staff to speed up the pumping out.”

He said the problem was plain during Eid Al Fitr, when even the usual contact chain for municipal staff did not answer during the rain. Mohammed Darraj said the problem did not stop with teams on the ground.

He said tanker supply contracts also needed to be reviewed, and argued that firms hired to provide tankers were not being held to the terms of their agreements as they should be.

“It is not right for there to be long-term contracts for dealing with pools of water during the rainy period,” Darraj told The Daily Tribune.

“The contracts ought to be short-term, so that if a contractor fails to provide the required tankers, it can be replaced by another.”