Road to cleanliness

A cleanliness law is soon expected to come into force as the authorities are finalising its legal procedures, it emerged. The Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry is also planning to launch awareness campaigns as part of implementing the new law. In May this year, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ratified and issued Law 10/2019 regarding public cleanliness after it was endorsed by the parliament.

The law passed by the parliament as well as Shura Council earlier this year imposes a fine of up to BD300 for violating norms related to public cleanliness. Littering, urinating or spitting are some of the violations that will be heavily penalised under the new law. The law imposes higher fines of up to BD1,000 for transporting garbage or dangerous substances without a licence. The law requires the Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf to draw up executive bylaws before it can be published in the Official Gazette.

According to an official from the ministry, the regulations will be finalised by September. He said that the by-laws were presented to 13 government bodies as well as municipal councils. “An awareness campaign will also be launched soon to educate the public about the law,” the official added. Many experts and parliamentarians have been warning over the Kingdom “fast approaching a waste crisis” in the coming months if necessary precautions are not taken. Parliamentarian Ahmed Al Ansari had opined that the current allocation of funds was not enough to tackle the emerging crisis.

He demanded further allocation of funds to carry out comprehensive cleaning activities throughout the year. Mr Al Ansari also urged the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to work with the Ministry of Finance to sort out the budget. He said that the recently-distributed government housing units add complexity to the clean up efforts and therefore would need a higher cleaning budget. “This aspect was not considered when the ‘clean-up budget’ was fixed a few years ago.”