But is this the worst to come? We don’t know. The Met office’s next 5 day forecast1 suggests that the temperature will continue to be cold, the minimum is a freezing 10℃ while the max is around 16℃. It is COLD out there! Those of you who are interested in history and records, can refer to this which shows the highs, lows, rainfall records and interesting animated radar pictures of what has befallen Bahrain in recent history.
As for all this rain. Well, I’m sure even with the latest makramah (Royal gift) which dropped HALF of the remaining loan on council housing, lucky buggers, a lot of those houses and more are suffering from various leaks and I am sure even before the week is out we will see horrific pictures of newly elected or most probably returning MPs standing in the rubble of a caved in roof of an unfortunate family and using that, of course, as yet another photo-op not to be missed, completely ignoring the fact of a desperately needy family, or even not thinking for one second on tightening the laws governing construction firms or individuals to make them responsible for what they build for at least 10 years, rather than what they lightly get off with currently which is a single year.
Have a wonderful, and uneventful, Dec 17th.
1. The link provided is dynamic, so for posterity’s sake, I have saved the page here for your pleasure.
Comments
http://www.bahrainweather.com/
high 13 ºC low 8 ºC
December 17th From 12 PM until 6 AM Tomorrow
Car thermometer registered a chilly 8 at noon outside Jawads in Sitra. It’s cold !
Last time I remember it was this cold was way back in the early 80’s when the Holiday Inn ran the “It’s a Knockout” competition and we all retired back to Cinq a Sept, the nightclub above Cico’s, to defrost.
10c cold? ,no -35c is cold 😛
“caved in roof”?
I don’t understand, how can the rain possibly cave in a roof?
Are you experiencing extreme winds?
What sort of roofing materials do you use in your area?
Author
Because construction is not regulated and we have a lot of cowboys pretending to be builders using “free visa” workers who get paid a pittance hence they can undercut legitimate businesses and they get hired to do a pretty shoddy job which ultimately comes crashing down with any pressure applied, be that a built-up of undrained water or wind or whatever other force.
And I can tell you, in an environment where the mean temperature is 30℃, 20 degrees below that IS VERY COLD.
I’m amazed that construction is not regulated. I would have thought that without regulation or proper inspection banks would not finance or provide mortgages for such properties.
Author
😆
Author
Just a clarification here, I wasn’t being flippant with my comment above, but we have an Arabic saying which goes like “it’s so sad it’s actually funny!”
Banks leaves it up to the individual (mostly) to do as s/he pleases with the money once given. All they care about is that the loan is completely secured (with land normally) so if anything goes wrong, or if the loan goes into default, they can more than recoup what they have given (whatever is built then, is actually a bonus.)
So the “funny” thing is that neither the building industry is regulated, nor is personal banking!
Someone in the building trade recently told me that since there is no tax, there is no regulation. An interesting point. With no tax, there is no need for accounting for anything.
No accounting and you get cowboy builders because there is no need to account for any discrepancies, or to account for any good work that is done. You can’t claim that the work is good since there is no reason to do so. You don’t get a tax rebate or have to answer to a higher power. With no higher power keeping an eye, who is looking at the regulation?
Who is going to pay for regulation? The government? Puleeese! When it is coming from from tax revenue, someone has to account for it.
An interesting concept.
As M said above, the banks leave it to the individuals. Who regulates the builders?
Any other views?
P.S. I’m dead against taxing people in Bahrain, but I would like to see regulation in building, especially in domestic resisdences. I’m sure it exists in the big buildings, but in small residences, I’m not so certain. You seem to be able to employ anyone who has a pulse.
LOL! Thanks for the clarification! For a second I thought you were implying that you didn’t use mortgages! 😛
That’s interesting, land here is worth very little so loans are primarily secured by the value of the buildings.
Also anon makes a good point, one large reason for building permits & inspections (here anyhow) is to asses the values for property tax purposes. BTW, we have many taxes. 😡
Damn, you lucky b*stards! About half my income is taken away as tax.
Mahmood,
Hmmm,
If the banks arent regulated, and the housing codes arent regulated… then I suspect that the companies doing the building are regulated. (Perhaps you can vouch for this Mahmood)?
Just how many housing builders are licensed to do business in Bahrain anyway? And how do they garner their licenses? What criteria does the license have associated with it? If a license is a permission slip essentially saying “The government has reviewed your previous work and it checks out”, then you shouldnt have bad building. But since you do in fact have bad building, this means that the license means nothing.
More probably, the licenses are given out because of personal favours granted between company big wigs, and govn officials. So instead, the license says “The government likes your CEO and he has agreed to give us mad dough, so go ahead and build. Plus he’s great at golf. What previous record?”
Thats my theory.
The free market model would predict that shoddy housing builders will not survive competition from builders who do a better job. Of course, in a free market. If the market is skewed however, (by government selecting who gets to build in Bahrain as shown above), then its not a free market anymore, and the bad weeds never get rooted out. Think about it – the good builders would weed out the bad ones… but in this case, the government is weeding out the good builders from the get-go! Hence, the bad ones have nothing to fear. So they have no incentive to build properly.
And why would the government ever weed out good companies? Because good companies by definition wouldnt partake in dubious behind-closed-door dealings with a government for money, market share, or whatever. They have reputations to maintain, as well as products. And anyone who wont do business with the government, isnt welcome inside Bahrain.
Its the government that needs regulating – not the builders.
-Ibn
Ibn,
The seme source as previous post suggested that the Govt is restricting the free market with a result that big building firms are on the breadline and on the brink of going bust. The price of commodities such as sand and rebar have increased, but the builders don’t seem to be able to charge the increase onto the government to break even or make a profit. They are thus hamstrung on deals that could cost them money and make them bankrupt. And who controls the commodities, the government. Do we have a Catch 22 situation here?
On top of this the awarding of contracts to companies that don’t have the expertise, but come in at the lowest cost are harming the market since they do not have the wherewithall to do the job properly. This could easily result in sub-standard buildings, if it hasn’t already happened. . .
Author
Anon, you seem to know the industry so please educate us: Is there any regulation in the construction business? I know that there is a committee at the Chamber of Commerce, but apart from this, are there any laws which govern the standards of buildings, the required guarantee that a builder should guarantee his work for a number of years? What are the penalties if any and what is the position of the government on free visa workers involved in this industry?
Anon – thanks for the insight – I find myself wondering however – if the companies are on the verge of collapse and constantly getting ripped off by the government, (who Im getting the impression is their main/only supplier of raw materials), then why are they still there? Why didnt they move on to greener pastures a long time ago? They must be making some kind of profit dont you think? I dont know, im sure theres more than meets the eye here. Again I dont live there so I must plead ignorance on the exact details of this. But I am curious.
from:
..Or maybe I have misunderstood you.
Anyway, one thing’s for sure: The government is up to its elbows on this one.
-Ibn
10c to 16c? That sounds like a typical Summer here!