MANAMA – Bahrain will open five new public parks worth BD1 million ($2.64 million) by the end of the year, said a top official. The Northern Municipality is giving final touches to the parks, which will not be opened until residents form their own ‘friends' groups to protect them from vandals. The five parks are Hamad Town Block 1205 (1,815 sq m), Malkiya (1,134 sq m), Halat Al Abd Al Saleh (872 sq m), Maqabah (246 sq m) and Jidhafs (883 sq m). They will bring the number of parks in the governorate to 23 - five of which were opened in the first half of the year. “We have a huge population in the governorate, but the number of public family and recreational facilities do not match that," said municipality director-general Yousif Al Ghatam. “When I came here, I immediately started working on plans to expand our network of public services. Through a strong team and in co-operation with residents, we managed to procure designs for 10 parks in just a few months," he further said. “Five parks were opened in the first half of the year and five others, that will be officially inaugurated soon, are also ready." “The five new parks, which are worth around BD1 million, will not be opened unless ‘friends' groups are formed to safeguard and protect them. Once residents assemble groups, the parks will be immediately opened," he noted. Al Ghatam said awareness about the importance of protecting public parks had increased since the launch of the governorate's Northern Parks Friends scheme. “We have learnt a lot from our experiences through the five parks opened just a few months ago, as ‘friends' are taking care of everything there. That by itself is a positive approach towards public facilities," he said. “That encouraged us to establish the five new parks, despite initially agreeing to develop a total of five and not 10." Al Ghatam said there were plans to build more parks next year. ‘However, we are still in the designing and budgeting stages. “We are currently working with the Northern Municipal Council and Northern Parks Friends to come up with plans that match their needs. This is to ensure that there are no repetitions of what's being served," he said. “In one year we have managed to utilize 39,181 sq m of municipal lands in the governorate and turn them into parks. Hopefully next year we will have that number doubled. It all depends on people and how they want their areas to look like in future. It also depends on their willingness to feel that the parks being built are theirs and in return offer appreciation by ensuring that it doesn't get damaged or vandalized," Al Ghatam added. – Agencies
