Historical Bahrain site to be bulldozed for new road

HERITAGE SITE: Officials want the Buri burial mounds to be excavated before the bulldozers move in. (Getty Images, for illustrative purposes only)

Burial mounds in Bahrain dating back more than 4,000 years will be bulldozed to make way for a road, houses and a public park, it has been reported.

The government had hoped to turn the 62 mounds in Buri into a World Heritage Site, but councillors argued they were standing in the way of development, the Gulf Daily News reported.

Heritage chiefs are now calling for the area, which dates back to the Dilmun civilisation, to be excavated before construction work begins.

Northern Municipal Council chairman and area councillor Yousif Al Boori, told the paper that developing the area was not “encouraging the destruction of history, we are protecting it.”

He told the paper that remains would never have been excavated from the site if it wasn’t for the development plans.

In May, officials submitted an application to Unesco to have 11 sites, including the one at Buri, recognised as World Heritage Sites.

But, the Works Ministry allocated a budget for a new road linking Buri with the Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway, which runs through the burial mounds site. While a major housing development and a public park are also planned.

Do you think the mounds should be protected, or is development more important than heritage? Post your comments below.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Out With The Old??????????
Posted by Gloria, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Monday 24 August 2009 at 21:55 UAE time


Are we so blase in today's world to think that history matters nothing - yet we become excited about finding dinosaur bones - human remains are just like garbage.

Where is the respect for the dead????????

Really? "Culture and History never helped anyone"
Posted by Greer, Bangkok, Thailand on Monday 24 August 2009 at 10:56 UAE time


Yes, go ahead and erase your culture, erase your heritage, destroy the past, have a nice road, a pleasant park where your kids can play...and in "tomorrow's tomorrow"...they can forget about you too....
Still think the past is irrelevent? Fine, go ahead...

Culture and History never helped anyone
Posted by Siliman, Dubai, UAE on Monday 24 August 2009 at 10:36 UAE time


Harsh to say, but culture never helped anyone. These are just a bunch of old graves. But here we can build a park which makes us all happy and a road connection, making the lives of hard-working individuals just a little bit easier. If we fill up the world with lots of old stuff, where will be the space for us to build the things people need today? If you want history, go to Europe, but here in Bahrain, we are building the land of the future! Not yesterday's yesterday, but tomorrow's tomorrow!

HERITAGE VS MODERNISATION
Posted by Buddhadeb Mookerjee, Dubai, UAE on Monday 24 August 2009 at 09:44 UAE time


No one can dispute the necessity of progress and looking ahead. But if progress comes at the cost of heritage then it raises questions. This is so because heritage involves human sentiment which cannot be quantified in terms of money or convenience. Hence, when a decision as this is taken a lot of thinking has to precede action. The authorities in Bahrain must have done the necessary soul searching prior to arriving at the decision.
In all fairness to the people they should come out with a white paper justifying the decision and seek the opinion of the people of the country. After all it is their sentiment which is at stake.

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