Bahrain World Heritage project hits land sale snag

Bahrain Fort was the kingdom's first World Heritage site. Photo: Getty.

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Bahrain’s plans to preserve 11 historic sites have been put on hold while the government negotiates with land owners over the price of the land.

Culture Ministry under secretary Dr Isa Ameen told local reporters that plans have been draw up to preserve a series of locations, including temples and the the A’ali burial grounds which have been described as a world wonder by archaeologists.

Other sites include two in the southern governate; three in Hamad Town and one each in Janabiya, Al Qadam, Janusan, Saar and Shakoora. Experts believe the sites retain artefacts that are important to the historic record of the region.

The 11 sites were recommended for World Heritage recognition in May last year. Bahrain’s government must first prove that it can protect the sites before World Heritage status can be issued, and they can’t do that until the land has been purchased, and the areas fenced off.

Some

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land is privately owned, which must be bought by the government. Other land is owned by other government departments, and they would need to be compensated with land elsewhere before they agreed to hand it over.

Dr Ameen told the Gulf Daily News that, "Land owners want high compensation, which we can't provide from our tightly-calculated budget, while other government bodies, especially the municipalities, want replacements.

"Unless we manage to get the deeds to the land and have them fenced, the committee won't accept our bid to have them listed. We are trying and had been trying even before suggesting the sites to the committee last year and the matter is on its way to seeing some solution, thanks to the leadership's intervention, but it is still a long way for us to achieve what we have planned."

Bahrain Fort, otherwise known as Qalat Al Bahrain, became the country's first World Heritage Site in 2006. The ministry announced last year that it was working on protecting 12,000 out of Bahrain's 75,000 remaining burial mounds.
 

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