+ A
A -
QNA
Doha
Qatar is celebrating the National Day this year under extraordinary circumstances because of the siege imposed on it but not deviating from the footsteps of the founder, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani has said.
The prime minister said the celebration shows the importance of sending messages to the world that Qatar is following in the footsteps of the founder in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives by promoting sustainable and comprehensive development and providing leading models in various sectors.
In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the premier conveyed his greetings and congratulations to the Emir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani.
He also congratulated all the citizens and expatriates in the country on the occasion of the Qatar National Day, praying to Allah the Almighty to allow the country enjoy pride and happiness as well as security, stability and tranquility.
He stressed that the current crisis has strengthened the values of solidarity and cohesion between citizens and expatriates in the face of unjust measures taken by the siege countries, which are contrary to all international conventions, laws and norms.
On his vision on choosing the theme of this year's celebration, Sheikh Abdullah said that the slogan 'Promise of Prosperity and Glory' was culled from the speech of the HH the Emir on the July 21 when he addressed the nation about the siege.
He said the slogan reflects the spirit of challenge, cohesion and mutual trust between the leader and the people, promotes the values of loyalty to the homeland, solidarity, unity and pride of national identity, and contributes to the advancement of society to face foreign conspiracies against the state.
The National Day is also an important symbol in the history of the country as a kind of expression by all the people for pride, loyalty and love for the homeland and for renewing the covenant and allegiance to HH the Emir, who leads the country with wisdom towards unity and completion of the construction process and development, the PM said.
The premier said siege on Qatar contradicts all customs, values and the codes of dealing between countries in order to pressure Qatar to abandon its principles and leadership, and impose guardianship on the country, stressing that the measure is unacceptable to Qatar's leadership, its people and the international community.
He added that the country has been subjected to biased and unfair media campaigns with allegations that contradict the reality, which reflects international recognition of Qatar's efforts in the fight against terrorism and its contribution to maintaining security and stability at the domestic and foreign levels.
He said the crisis revealed the bad intentions and uncivilised behaviour of the siege countries towards Qatar.
Qatar has repelled the siege and it has benefited our people who have successfully overcome the situation, adhering to their national identity and giving the finest examples of steadfastness and cohesion between the people and leadership, the premier said.
Sheikh Abdullah stressed that Qatar's position has been clear and consistent since the beginning of the crisis that dialogue is the only way to resolve it without affecting the sovereignty of the State or interfering in its internal affairs, thanking the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber al Sabah for his efforts to contain the crisis.
He also appreciated the role of all friendly countries that sought to resolve the crisis through the support of Kuwaiti mediation, reiterating that the solution to the crisis would be achieved only through dialogue.
The PM affirmed that Qatar was able to manage the crisis and overcome its repercussions with wisdom, awareness and knowledge, in accordance with well-made plans.
"We were able to face the challenges of the siege and thwart it through strengthening the internal coherence of the society and invest in national energies; continuing the development, infrastructure, health and education projects; upgrading the Qatari economy; encouraging local investments; protecting the national product and increasing production through promoting food, water and medicine security projects to achieve self-sufficiency, as well as improving the business environment in Qatar and increasing the tourist turnout, among other steps," he said.
Regarding foreign policy, the prime minister said Qatar has maintained active diplomacy based on dialogue with all countries, bodies and organisations to clarify the Qatari point of view.
"The activities have contributed to strengthening communication between Qatar and its regional and international environment, opening up to the world, developing relations with friendly countries and continuing to build relations on the bases mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs, counting on the distinguished relations bonding Qatar with the international community," the PM said.
He added,"As HH the Emir has said, our relations with the international community have expanded after the siege more than before, directly with countries as well as with regional and international organisations. Our diplomacy has also succeeded in signing partnerships, agreements and memorandums of understanding, all of which contribute to enhancing Qatar's relations with the global community."
On the important achievements of the Ministry of Interior during the past year and future plans, especially under the unjust siege, the PM said,"With Allah's Grace and in the framework of our strategy and plans to provide the highest levels of security and safety in the country, we have recorded many achievements to keep abreast of the boom and renaissance witnessed by the State in various fields. As you know, security and development are inseparable. Economic prosperity and overall development cannot be achieved without security. So, we have worked to provide a safe environment in all areas."
He added that everyone was briefed through the various media on the achievements of the Ministry of Interior in terms of positive statistical indicators regarding the state of security and safety as well as the quality of services provided to the public, both geographically and electronically.
The PM pointed out that one of the most prominent achievements in the field of security is the significant decrease in the numbers of crimes in the country compared to the global level, especially in major crimes reports to the specialised and geographical security agencies as major crimes accounted for only three percent of the total number of criminal offences committed in 2016.
He explained that major crimes include murder, abduction, serious assault and robbery, stressing that the recorded percentage in this category is lesser than the global average per 100,000 population by more than 90 percent, which reflects the state of security enjoyed by Qatar despite the high rate of population growth.
The premier affirmed that this decrease has also contributed to strengthening the country's position in various forums by ranking in the top positions in many international security indicators issued by neutral international bodies.
Sheikh Abdullah said the successes were not coincidence but they are a result of the tireless efforts made by the Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with all relevant authorities in the State by mobilising human and material energies towards achieving the desired goals and objectives, putting Qatar on the top of the Middle East and North Africa in the Global Security and Peace Index, which assesses countries according to the criteria of (security and safety within the community, the level of local conflict, and the degree of supply of weapons and military equipment) for nine consecutive years.
He said,"Qatar has also achieved advanced positions in the regional and global rankings of the Global Competitiveness Index (2014-2017) in combating crime, violence and terrorism, public satisfaction and confidence in the services provided by the police force worldwide.
"Qatar also ranked first in the world index of the lowest countries in terms of the costs of crime and violence, ranked sixth in the world index of combating organised crime. The crimes of drugs smuggling and abuse significantly decreased following the unjust siege compared to the previous period as seizures of all types of drugs in the State decreased by between 88 to 99.9 percent.
The PM added,"As a continuation of our programmes and plans to combat cyber crime and its threat to the future technical structure of the State, we have enhanced attention to protecting systems and technical information and to intensifying procedures to ensure that there are no serious security gaps in the network infrastructure, email and database protection as well as the quality of locally developed software."
In the service field, the prime minister and minister of interior said the ministry has paid great attention to enabling the public to access all its services easily in accordance with international standards through a variety of outlets.
He pointed out that the efforts have resulted in an increase in the rate of services performed through various geographical and electronic ports with the required accuracy and speed, which was reflected in the level of satisfaction recorded by the ministry in 2016 by 95 percent, stating that the transactions completed in the year were more than 71 million, a monthly average of six million transactions and a daily average of 200,000 transactions, equivalent to (140) transaction in almost every minute.
He said the Ministry of Interior has also made it possible to enable the public to access its services electronically through its website, Hukoomi website, self-service devices and Metrash 2 service, adding that Matrash2 has contributed to the increase in the speed of completion of transactions, saving time and effort for the clients who deals with the ministry.
He pointed out that the total services provided through the application have exceeded 160 services for institutions, individuals, organisations and companies in a way that allows everyone to benefit from all services without the need to go to the headquarters of service departments.
The prime minister said the service has received a number of regional awards as the best government service applications, the most recent of which was the Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah Award in Kuwait, which is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the Arab region for innovation in the field of digital projects serving large community sectors.
On the level of human resources, the PM said that police and security capabilities have been strengthened through continuous training, especially after the opening of the Police College and providing it with distinguished policing cadres that have been widely accepted by the community, adding that a number of new buildings and premises have been opened for some departments of the ministry to allow the departments to carry out their duties in an environment that is accessible to the public, the elderly and the persons with disabilities.
He pointed out that there have also been many efforts and achievements at the technical level, enabling the specialised security departments to develop their work and upgrade their services, particularly those relating to the safety of life as well as to private and public property.
Concerning the ministry's future strategy, he said"It is derived from our attention to achieve tranquility and to increase the sense of security and safety for citizens and expatriates living in the country by reducing crime rates to less than the global rates, especially security, economic and electronic crimes.
This will also include increasing the number of patrols, enhancing the efficiency of the operations room, the speed of receiving and responding to reports, protecting lives and property, the speed of emergency response to achieve security and safety, preparing to face crises and emergencies, preventing and reducing fires, and minimising the negative effects resulting from it."
He stressed that the ministry's strategy focuses on protecting the society from the scourge of drugs in all ramifications, such as, fetching, trafficking and abuse, and the use of modern technologies to detect them, as well as intensifying awareness campaigns targeting all segments of society.
On efforts to ensure roads safety, the PM said,"We are working hard to provide security and safety on the roads, to keep pace with the growth rates of the population of the state and meet its need for development and implementation of major projects. This growth is accompanied by an increase in the number of vehicles and road users. We will focus on improving the efficiency of the traffic system in order to achieve the highest degree of protection for road and vehicle users, reduce traffic accidents leading to death and injuries, and enhance rapid response and access to the accidents scenes."
He added,"Our future plan also aims to continue the human resource development programmes as a cornerstone of the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy through which the ministry achieves its objectives. We also seek to continue to work towards the optimal utilisation of financial and technical resources, utilising the material resources of the ministry such as buildings, equipment, tools and vehicles, especially as the ministry relies heavily on technology in providing services both to its internal and external clients.
"This is in addition to strengthening and updating our approach towards the establishment of modern buildings for all departments and organs of the ministry. As part of this, the new police headquarters, the General Directorate of Immigration, Rescue Police Department (Al Fazaa) and the Ministry of Interior Hospital are continuing to be completed as well as the headquarters of a number of departments."
The prime minister said,"We have prioritised improving the quality of services to the public through access to smart services by developing existing services and adding new ones, as well as through simplifying procedures, improving the working environment, dealing with the public transparently and working to follow up public complaints and respond quickly in order to achieve a high degree of satisfaction."
"Our priorities extend to the development of the system of securing the coasts and borders of the State, especially as Qatar Peninsula has long coasts representing 75 percent of its borders, which places greater obligation on the Ministry of the Interior to complete the coastguard fleet and to strengthen it with modern naval vessels and equipment to counter infiltration and smuggling attempts and to raise capacity to counter any hostile and subversive acts, in light of the changes in the region," he added.
On the importance of Qatar's celebration of the national occasion, the PM said the celebration of Qatar National Day has great effect on memory of the homeland and embodies the meaning of unity and true brotherhood among its people.
He stressed that the historic day is a great occasion to commemorate the founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani, who laid the first building blocks of the glorious State of Qatar, adding that the celebration is also an incentive to inspire values of attachment to the homeland, sacrifice and selflessness.
Sheikh Abdullah said,"Despite the continued siege imposed on us, the State has succeeded in hosting many regional and international conferences and seminars, in cooperation with international organisations and bodies, which demonstrates the confidence of the international community in the pivotal role of our country in the region as well as its security, prosperity and openness to all international institutions."
He outlined the activities related to security organisations such as Interpol, which refutes the fabrications of the siege countries on support for terrorism, pointing to the first conference for the security and safety of major events and the international conference on combating trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants, which were held in cooperation between of Qatar and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
"We are proud of the partnership and strong relationship we have with Interpol and these events underscore Qatar's reputation for good relations with various partners from governments and international organisations," the PM said.
