RESIDENTS from three "forgotten" Bahraini villages, which are still not on the map despite years of campaigning, are planning daily demonstrations to try and force the government to recognise them.
The Central Municipal Council is set to meet Works Ministry officials tomorrow to demand that signs for two of the three villages - Jubailat and Hojjair - are installed at their entrances.
The third village, Kawarah, was recognised by the Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) last year and street signs have since been put up.
However, it has yet to be reintroduced on modern maps of Bahrain along with the two other villages, which have a combined population of 4,000.
Residents from the villages claim they were robbed of their identities decades ago when their village names were dropped and their areas were reclassified as being part of Tubli. They now fear the traditional names could soon disappear from use altogether - depriving them of a direct link with their heritage.
A number of petitions have been presented to the Central Municipal Council in the last three years, demanding that each village's original identity be restored.
The council has been forwarding the request to Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Central Informatics Organisation (CIO) head Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatala Al Khalifa since 2006.
But while the CIO has now acknowledged the existence of Kawarah, it said in a letter to the council that nobody knew about the two other villages.
"Now with everyone knowing that Kawarah exists after signs have been put up last year and with us getting signs for the two other villages, people will start recognising the three names again," said council vice-chairman and area councillor Abbas Mahfoodh.
"Our aim is to force the government to put the three villages which are listed on Bahrain's old maps back again on recent ones, which no one knows who drew up.
"Residents of the three villages are still referred to as being from Tubli on their smart cards - including Kawarah, which has been officially acknowledged by the CIO.
"This is wrong because people from Salmabad are not from A'ali, they are neighbours and that's something the government is failing to understand."
Mr Mahfoodh said that acknowledging the villages would not harm anyone.
"We just want having those villages separated from Tubli by putting their names on a map, putting them on the address system and putting up a sign," he said.
"No one wants to see daily demonstrations, but if the government doesn't listen, then regretfully thousands of people will be seen protesting daily until it does."
Mr Mahfoodh, who is originally from Tubli, said the problem began in the 1980s when the former Municipalities Affairs Ministry classified the areas as being part of Tubli.
"They never dealt with names of the three villages and over time, the villages were considered as Tubli - with the original names neglected," he said.
"Residents wanted their villages' names to be registered officially during the 1980s and early 90s. Things have changed now and we won't rest until we have them officially acknowledged, with signs for the two remaining villages and all three getting their names included on Bahrain's map."
alaali@gdn.com.bh
