Deterioration of Services Indicate Failure of Policies

The end of summer this year bears very negative memories for the people of Bahrain. The whole population has experienced the worst power cuts for many years. There is literally no area that has not been affected during the hot summer months.

It may be too surprising and unbelievable that in such a small oil-rich country, the people will undergo such terrible conditions. But this is the reality that indicated a definite failure in the provision of infrastructure services.

Many of the main highways in the country were in total darkness, some for many nights, due to power cuts. Many villages spent nights in darkness and high temperatures. Many schools had to send students home because there was no electric power to run the schools. A number of businesses had to temporarily close because they suddenly found themselves without power on certain days.

This failure is not confined to the power supply, but also extends to cover many other basic services which the Government has failed to provide for the people of Bahrain at an acceptable level. This is a natural consequence of policies that overlook the interest of the population, and run the country without any principles of strategic planning.

Successful policies which the Government of Bahrain proclaims to have in the local press are continuously annulled by the realities which fill the front pages of the same press. Success and failure cannot be quantified through the statements which the Government puts forward to silence the opposition, but through the measure of how satisfied or frustrated the people are with the public services they are receiving. There is widespread discontent amongst Bahrainis today, while the Government takes frantic moves to prove otherwise.

Bahrain Freedom Movement
29th September 2008