MANAMA: New businesses have been banned from operating in the heart of a popular shopping district in Adliya. The Manama Municipal Council has scrapped plans to officially reclassify the area behind Al Jazeera Supermarket as a commercial zone.

It says there are already enough shops and restaurants in the area and changing the residential classification would mean massive traffic congestion as there is a lack of parking spaces.

However, the Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry has been pushing for the reclassification on grounds that the district was known as a commercial area in the last 30 years.

"We accept the fact that people know the place as a shopping district rather than its original status as a residential area, but I don't think that anyone living there is ready for further nuisance as more outlets will open if we agree to the commercial classification," said council vice-chairman Mohammed Mansoor.