Dear Stan,I have many serious and possibly grave concerns about the boat ban imposed on the interior waters (within the breakwater) of Amwaj Islands.
I do not see how it is conceived that Amwaj Management is taking safety seriously by implementing such a ban, as quoted in the GulfWeekly article by Liz O'Reilly.
As a responsible citizen, I cannot agree to such blatant disregard to the safety of residents and guests to Amwaj.
First of all, by banning boats from all of the interior waters at Amwaj, you immediately remove any fast response to anyone in distress in the water. During the ebb or flooding tides, any small current could easily put any swimmer in distress. Since there are no lifeguards around the islands, the 100 per cent absence of boats adds to the inherent danger of living or loitering near the interior waters.
It isn't even conceivable how it would be legal to impose such boating sanctions upon the residents whose boat access is within these imposed boundaries - but that is another matter in itself.
Something else to consider is the seemingly trivial event that someone's personal effects (such as a kayak or other miscellaneous personal effects) accidentally becomes unfastened or dropped or even blown loose into the water. Coupled with the absence of boats, this situation may actually encourage people to swim after their equipment or perform other possibly dangerous acts to retrieve their belongings.
Furthermore, requiring boaters to move 100 per cent of their waterborne activities to areas outlined within the ban - actually increases the likelihood of a serious accident since the population density of boaters would both be increased in two small areas (adjacent to the lock at Al Marsa, and adjacent to the new Marina) and much of the area outside of the breakwater is under massive construction (and will be for some time).
The areas outside of the breakwater adjacent to Amwaj Islands largely employ heavy machinery such as dredging ships, tug boats, and crew ferries. Semi-submerged pipelines often found around both east and west sides of Amwaj Islands pose navigational hazards to marine craft, as well as the constant change in water depths due to the progress of development being entirely unmarked on navigational charts available to the general public.
The areas these hazards are not present are already frequently dominated by commercial shipping vessels and related craft.
There are also lots of fish traps appearing everywhere around the territorial waters outside of the breakwater.
The premise that management has taken responsible measures for our safety by cutting off the interior waterway in its entirety is an absolute insult and outrage. Management has in effect - 'built a road and banned vehicles', 'built an airport and banned aircraft'... built a waterway and banned boats.
This truly does defy logic in my opinion.
There is a lot at stake here and this matter should not be taken lightly.
Regards,
Concerned Amwaj resident, name and
address supplied
Dear Stan,
I just want to tell you how grateful I am for the information that you have published in Shilpa's Shopping List. Before that it was impossible to find that kind of information. The column has been a good resource and makes one feel more confident to move to Bahrain.
Victor Arcos, by email.
Dear Stan,
Thank you very much for helping us and alerting us to the Arabian Mau issue.
We would have been in the dark really if it wasn't for you.
The article by Liz O'Reilly was really well balanced and she put the emphasis on the right issues.
Hana Kanoo, The Cat Society of Bahrain and Pet Animals.
