A MAJOR plan to turn Bahrain’s oldest suq into a state-of-the-art market boulevard with a traditional twist that captures the ambience of its glorious former port trading history have been discussed at a high-level meeting.
The Muharraq Municipal Council held the meeting yesterday, bringing together suq merchants and representatives of Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca), the Muharraq Governorate and the municipality’s executive body.
Council chairman Abdulaziz Alnaar said the first of its kind meeting had reached positive results.
Baca National Heritage director Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa gave a detailed explanation about the project as part of a vision to humanise cities to attract more families and tourists.
In a statement to our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, Mr Alnaar said the meeting focused on finding solutions regarding the provision of alternative parking lots for the 134 parking lots that will be destroyed during the development project.
The meeting came up with alternatives that would provide more than 300 parking spaces to serve the Muharraq Suq, Mr Alnaar pointed out.
He said the project will be carried out in three phases. The first starts from the eastern side to the beginning of the suq, and development works will continue until the end of 2024.
A total of BD597,120 has been allocated for beautification of the suq and expansion of greenery. Relocation of water pipes is estimated to cost BD12,850 while BD20,280 has been set aside for new lighting systems, as reported by the GDN last month.
The project, which will stretch 620 metres on Shaikh Hamad Avenue, is being carried out by the Works Ministry, in partnership with the Baca.
Bahraini historian Hussain Al Mahdi had then highlighted that the suq was at least 240 years old.
“Muharraq was Bahrain’s original capital prior to Manama and research shows that it was a main trading port alongside Jeddah, Basra and Aden,” he said.
“Its current status doesn’t reflect the true value or deep richness of the area, despite huge efforts to preserve, protect and promote it,” Mr Al Mahdi added.
“There is much more to the suq as a witness to Bahrain’s modern history rather than just shops. It represents the old port markets and is the country’s oldest suq.”
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