Bahrain needs a political solution

In November, Bahrain's government accepted a critical assessment of its heavy-handed security response to last winter's disorders. The kingdom pledged to do better, and made some specific promises.

But protests and violence continue. On New Year's Day a demonstrating teenager died, reportedly after being hit by a tear-gas canister. And the US has called on Bahrain to investigate the claim of Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, who says he was beaten at a protest last Friday. Such cases reveal an underlying problem which is fundamentally about politics, not policing.

To be sure, police practices have been counterproductive. In November the five independent human-rights legal experts of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) said protests had been met by "systematic torture and similar ill-treatment and ... excessive use of force", in the words of one commissioner.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had, to his credit, ordered the report. Its 513 pages put a seal of undeniable authority on accumulated anecdotal and journalistic evidence about government response to protests in which 35 people, including five policemen, died.

In response to the study, the government promised zero tolerance for abuse of political detainees, reinstatement of civil servants fired for dissent, and the hiring of more police from all segments of society.

In fairness, the government's willingness to make at least some of the security-policy reforms proposed by BICI has been blocked by the opposition parties' refusal to discuss such measures.

But even sweeping security reforms will not solve Bahrain's underlying political problem. The BICI report ended by calling on the government to develop a "national reconciliation programme that addresses the grievances of groups which are or perceive themselves to be deprived of equal political, social, and economic rights".

The commission stopped with that generality, but Bahrain cannot.

In any country, if political problems are not given political solutions, sooner or later the security forces must become the arbiters of order, with results that are rarely permanent and never satisfactory.

Profile

Name: Carzaty

Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar

Launched: 2017

Employees: 22

Based: Dubai and Muscat

Sector: Automobile retail

Funding to date: $5.5 million

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Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

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A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.

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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

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Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills