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TEENAGERS across Bahrain are to be invited to join a community campaign to tidy up their villages and the outside of compounds and properties scarred by ugly graffiti.
The move by local authorities comes as expat brats have started making their presence felt with mindless vandalism around Saar and Janabiyah following in the footsteps of local youths marking their territories with anti-government graffiti.
Northern Area Municipality executives hope bringing young people together and harnessing their talents in a positive manner may have the same success as a similar community initiative staged three years ago.
“Vandalism is not only costly to repair but it also ruins the appearance of properties and damages community spirit,” said Fadel Mirza Anan, the local authority’s head of public relations. “Whether what’s written is political or just rubbish, it should not be done in the first place.
“Teenagers and children, especially come summer time, have a lot of free time on their hands and plenty of energy to spare that they don’t know what to do with. Some turn to tagging and vandalising property and some lash out emotionally that way as well.
“It’s up to the community – schools, parents, mosques and sport centres – to find activities to occupy the teens and help them deal with all their pent-up energy.
“We held a campaign three years ago and joined with teens in different villages to clean up their areas. We gave them paint, brushes and whatever cleaning goods they needed.
“In one village alone, for example, 100 youngsters gathered between the ages of 10 and 20. We simply divided them up into groups, delegated jobs and they cleaned up the area superbly.
“I’m not saying that this will prevent vandalism from happening completely but it can lessen it and teach children to have respect for their community and other people’s property. Also, some of these teens were very artistic. Much of the ugly graffiti was replaced with beautiful calligraphy and murals at agreed locations and you would never believe the artistic ability on display.”
The campaign was clearly more successful than a recent initiative to display Holy Scripture that failed to prevent a wave of new vandalism occurring.
The graffiti currently on show in Bahrain is anything but artistic. Messages of hate spilling out as a result of last year’s unrest are currently covered over by lashes of black paint by property owners and the authorities and a wave of pathetic spray painting in English has suddenly appeared on the walls of compounds and large homes.
On Avenue 77 one ironically states: ‘Stop Vandalism’. The writer might choose to heed his or her own advice, as police patrol the area and investigate complaints. Close-by the Abha Gardens compound is believed to have been targeted following an expat teenager’s birthday party.
Sreedhar T, a representative of its owners, Fahad Al Gosaibi Properties, said: “The vandalism is very bad. The teenagers are destroying our property with their graffiti. The parents should give proper guidance to their children. The graffiti is making Bahrain look ugly. The kingdom used to be clean and beautiful and now it’s covered with it.”
One senior human resource executive of a major Bahrain company, who asked not to be named, said many expats have contracts which warn them that the bad behaviour of family members could jeopardise their positions.
A representative from the legal affairs directorate at the Ministry of Interiors said: “We take action when a complaint has been made to the area’s municipality.
“For example, if a teenager is caught vandalising a property the owner will make a complaint with the Northern Municipality in Budaiya and it will attempt to resolve the matter.
“If that is not possible a case could be filed and then it all depends on the judge. A fine may be decided on to cover the owner’s compensation claim but in serious cases the youth responsible could also be sent for rehabilitation at a children’s confinement centre in Isa Town.”
Mr Anan added: “The message we want to put across to all the youngsters is that vandalism is wrong and will be dealt with. You may not realise the damage you are causing and the eyesore you are creating in your community. It’s disrespectful and will not be tolerated.”
The new youth clean-up campaign will be launched on Saturday.
