Increasing traffic jams and the frequent movement of heavy trucks on King Fahad Causeway is proving dangerous, the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has said.

It said it does not, however, have the technical and engineering capabilities to confirm whether the causeway is gradually sinking into the sea.

'We are not the authority that is responsible to state such matters,' said BCCI's Customs and Port Committee head Abdulhakim Shammary.

'The BCCI's primary concern is on the movement of trucks on the causeway as with other entry points in the Gulf.

'Congestion has an impact not only on transport companies, but also on exporters, importers and travellers.

'There are fears on the impact the weight of trucks has on the safety of the causeway. The King Fahad Causeway General Organisation has initiated major projects that will improve movement.'

Al Shammary earlier told our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News the causeway, built at a cost of $1.2 billion and commissioned for use in 1982, was never meant to have such a large number of trucks standing on it all the time.

He claimed the causeway on the Bahrain side had already sunk a 'few centimetres' in the last few years and that urgent repairs were needed.-TradeArabia News Service