MUHARRAQ councillors yesterday rejected an offer for a senior interim municipal official to attend their meetings.

Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Minister Dr Juma Al Ka'abi offered to deputise Southern Municipality director-general Saleh Al Fadhala to act on behalf of Muharraq's director-general Shaikh Khalifa bin Isa Al Khalifa, who is currently acting Under-Secretary for Agriculture Affairs at the ministry.

However, the Muharraq Municipal Council refused the deal - saying it would still not allow decisions to be reached immediately.

A senior official municipal official was ejected from the council two weeks ago.

Muharraq Municipality technical services director Ahmed Al Doy was shown the door by councillors, who have now banned all municipality staff from attending future meetings.

Councillors want Shaikh Khalifa himself to attend and have threatened to indefinitely suspend meetings if he doesn't show up by September, or a full-time replacement appointed.

It is demanding the attendance of Shaikh Khalifa immediately or a Royal Order naming a replacement that councillors can work with.

The council meeting yesterday went ahead without any municipality representative and its decisions were referred to Dr Al Ka'abi himself.

"We are not demanding the impossible and want the people to get their issues solved without any bureaucratic delays, in which requests or demands go from one office to another," said council chairman Abdulnasser Al Mahmeed.