Northern Municipal Council Reports Heavy Workload as 49 Decisions Remain Under Study
Nearly half of 103 measures passed by the Northern Municipal Council were still awaiting a ministerial ruling at the close of its latest sitting, while 25 had been turned down.
The council sent 13 decisions and 90 recommendations to the Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister between September 2025 and June 2026. Of these, 29 were accepted and 49 remained under study.
Dr Sayed Shubber Al Wedaie, the council chairman, said members had held 20 full meetings during the 10-month sitting, an average of two each month.
Public works made up the largest share of the council’s output. Sixty-four recommendations dealt with trees, parks, streets, pavements and other local schemes.
A further 28 covered council rules, administrative matters and street names. Six concerned laws,public spending, contracts and compulsory land purchases, while five dealt with local plans, land use and changes to property classifications.
Members put forward 100 proposals, which were studied by council committees before being brought to a vote and sent to the minister under Article 20 of the Municipalities Law.
The council’s committees held 93 meetings and dealt with 621 matters.
The technical committee met 24 times and studied 310 cases, the highest tally among the five groups. The permanent committee held 19 meetings and dealt with 189 matters.
The Services and Public Utilities Committee met 21 times and examined 67 cases. The Financial and Legal Committee held 14 meetings and dealt with 24, while the Public Relations and Media Committee held 15 meetings and discussed 31.
Beyond the council chamber, members sent 963 requests to the Works Ministry and dealt with 289 complaints from residents.
They also carried out 55 site visits, held 51 meetings with government bodies and took part in nine inspection rounds at sites linked to complaints or suspected breaches.
The council put forward 77 municipal schemes and studied 106 requests tied to planning and property classifications. Members also sent 508 municipal service forms, 258 public health requests and 498 other requests to the bodies concerned.
Dr Al Wedaie said the figures showed the weight of work taken on by members across their constituencies and praised state bodies for helping them pursue local cases.
The council’s Public Relations and Media Committee ran health and awareness events under its Hayakum programme, visited health and social centres and arranged cleaning drives.
Local newspapers carried 269 reports about the council during the sitting. These included 111 stories on council meetings, 80 statements from individual members and 20 reports on community work.
A further 34 stories covered local service problems in the Northern Governorate, while 24 dealt with public works.
The council published 2,342 posts on Instagram and 150 items on its pages within the ministry’s website.
Dr Al Wedaie called on service ministries to give the council their project plans and regular reports on requests raised by members.
Such details, he said, would allow councillors to track cases, find delays and work more closely with the bodies in charge.
He also thanked the council’s secretariat, office staff, committee teams and constituency co- ordinators for arranging meetings, following up cases and helping members carry out their work.
Dr Al Wedaie said municipal government had played a part in Bahrain’s growth for over a century and had gained new weight through the reform programme of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
He said the extension of municipal council terms and the inclusion of council chairmen in meetings of the Ministerial Committee for Development and Infrastructure Projects had given local councils a stronger voice in government planning.
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