We want our beach back say residents
by mahmood on 18/04/08 at 11:41 am
Angry Demistan residents are staging a festival today, to highlight their fight for the return of their beach.Parts of the coast are owned by a VIP, who villages say has also “stolen” part of the sea and walled it off, blocking residents’ access.
Another VIP has sold the other part to private investors, who are planning to build a new housing development project there.
The Northern Municipal Council has asked the investors to allocate 30 per cent of the land for public use, but they refused, so no permit to start construction work on the project has yet been given.
The Cabinet sent a letter to parliament on October 9, last year, saying that the relevant ministry had been instructed to allocate an area for a jetty for fishermen’s use and passage to the sea.
The National Committee for The Protection of the Beach says it has received assurances from the Royal Court that parts of the coast will be registered as public property in the Survey and Land Registration Bureau, but is still waiting.
The Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife reportedly told committee officials that the Royal Court had agreed to register the coast as public property, but the deeds have not been received.
Committee secretary Hussain Al Majid said today’s festival would highlight the residents’ plight and remind officials about the issue.
“We have planned the festival with the council, a number of MPs and political societies, as we are trying to bring more attention to the problems we are facing,” he said.
“It is saddening to see that our public beach has become private and that we are having to beg for its return.
“We just want 30pc of it.”
Mr Al Majid said that despite a law making all coasts and beaches public, not even one beach in the country was owned by the public.
“Law 20/2006 stipulates that beaches are for public use, but unfortunately the government can’t do anything to get it back, considering that their owners are VIPs,” he said.
“We have lost a huge part of the coast to one VIP, who has fenced it.
“The other part has been sold by another VIP to investors, who wanted to build but have been stopped by the council, which demanded that 30pc be allocated for a jetty and access to the sea.
Mr Al Majid said that the Royal Court and the Cabinet had responded to their plight, but this had not yet been translated into action.
“There are official decisions, but they have never been implemented, as the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife is saying that they haven’t received the deeds yet,” he said.
“The beach is ours and we won’t back off until we get it. We want it to be developed, so its real owners can benefit from it.”
The festival will start 4pm. All are welcome to attend.
