Attack on sports facility flayed

A group of MPs yesterday condemned the recent attack on a sports facility in Nuwaidrat.

The parliamentarians included the council’s Youth and Sports Affairs Committee Chairman Ghazi Al Rahma and members MP Jalal Kadhem and MP Hamad Al Dossary, in addition to the council’s Human Rights Committee Chairman MP Nasser Al Qasseer and independent MP Nabeel Al Balooshi.

This came after unknown individuals attacked a hall in Nuwaidrat Club using Molotov cocktails and burning big parts of the facility on Tuesday.

According to the MPs, the project cost the State more than BD350,000 and took three years to be completed.

Al Rahma denounced the attack, which came one day prior to the official opening of Nuwaidrat Club, considering it as “a criminal act that’s wasting the efforts and funds paid to improve and develop the skills of the Bahraini youth”. He criticised how the attack came during difficult financial situations that are sweeping the Kingdom and the  region.

“These unethical acts are obstacles in the way of the ambitions of Nuwaidrat youth and athletes. We demand prompt investigation in the matter and deterrent punishment of the attackers,” Al Rahma said.

Both members of the committee, Kadhem and Al Dossary also condemned the attack, which “harmed the youth and sports communities in Nuwaidrat by vandalising a facility that would have been a perfect environment for the youth to demonstrate and develop their talents”.

Speaking on a human rights angle, Al Qasseer criticised how the attack deprived the youth of the area of their rights to practise their hobbies and develop and sharpen their skills and talents.

On his part, MP Al Balooshi explained that the targeted hall at the project is also utilised as a multipurpose hall and consists of a reception hall, gym, changing rooms, physiotherapy rooms and other facilities.

The five MPs collectively hailed the efforts of Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Hisham Al Jowder to develop this vital sector of the Bahraini society. Al Jowder had visited the site of the attack immediately after it was reported.