Meriam Jelliti
Doha
A meeting was held on Wednesday to highlight municipal laws prohibiting parking of unused vehicles on roads, sidewalks and public squares. The introductory meeting was organised by the Ministry of Municipality, represented by Doha Municipality, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, represented by the Department of Public Affairs.
Mansour Ajran Al Buainain, Director of Doha Municipality led the meeting. He was joined by Salem Al Shafi, Director of the Municipal Control Department in Doha Municipality and Hamad Sultan Al-Shahwani, Head of the Public Control Department in Doha Municipality.
Al Buainain said that such a meeting with representatives of communities in the State of Qatar comes within the framework of the Ministry’s keenness, represented by Doha Municipality, to open new horizons for dialogue and joint work with all members of society in order to serve the public interest.It aspires to promote the quality of life, achieve safety standards, improve the urban landscape of cities and public places and reduce visual pollution. Doha Municipality is keen to organise this meeting to announce that it is conducting a campaign to raise awareness of the need not to occupy squares, streets and sidewalks with neglected vehicles and temporary buildings without a licence. Such a campaign comes as part of an effort to maintain the beauty and cleanliness of the city, and to introduce the provisions of Law No. 18 of 2017 on public hygiene, which contributes to improving public behaviours and enhancing the sense of responsibility among community groups.
Mansour Ajran Al Buainain noted that with the aim of enhancing community participation, there will be a series of other forums including various topics. A number of representatives of communities in Qatar also attended the meeting and praised the initiative which aims at raising awareness of violations of municipal laws regarding the occupancy of roads, sidewalks and public squares with trucks and neglected vehicles. Such a matter affects the aesthetic view of the state, causes environmental damage, and hinders the work of strategic projects.
Al Buainain underlined the importance of addressing these issues for as it aims to activate awareness and supervisory functions by strengthening the bonds of cooperation and building bridges of constructive discussions.
Furthermore, the Director of the Municipality of Doha expressed his sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Interior for its cooperation and support to lead such meeting to success along with the efforts of the Municipality of Doha in general. He also thanked the representatives of the communities residing in the Qauar for their presence and responsiveness in cooperating with the Municipality in such awareness campaign aimed at preserving the urban image of the city.
For his part, Salem Al Shafi, said that the philosophy and strategy of the ministry’s work, based on the vision and directions of HE the Minister of Municipality, encourage the Municipality to embrace this event. Such an event aims at opening the horizons and ways of community dialogue and joint work among the municipal sector in the ministry and all concerned institutions and authorities to develop the work environment in the interest of all in order to achieve the desired goals.
In his speech, Salem Al Shafi explained that the introductory meeting aims to clarify on the types of risks, the most important causes of food poisoning and the methods followed to avoid the same and to spread awareness. This is in addition to providing the necessary guidance to workers to raise the level of safety during all stages of the food chain in order to produce safe and healthy food.
Al Shafi expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Mansour Ajran Al Buainin, Director of Doha Municipality, for his continuous support for all the participations and events adopted by the Municipality through its leading role in various fields.
In the same context, Al Shahwani gave a presentation on the necessary instructions for raising awareness about the laws of the municipality and the prohibition of parking trucks and vehicles among residential neighbourhoods and in places other than those designated for the purpose. This is in addition to introducing the sites designated for parking vehicles, trucks, and equipment. He also called for the need to avoid the phenomenon of indiscriminate dumping of waste and the distortion of the roofs of buildings, facades, and balconies in residential neighbourhoods. In addition to avoiding the grouping of workers’ housing among residential neighbourhoods inhabited by families.
He also explained that numerous issues can occur in shared spaces, the extensive use of electricity, and the pressure to infrastructure could lead to accidents or even loss of lives without any proper justifications as a result of a profitable, mentality. “We ask everyone to comply with the law that is made to protect all individuals and we ask everyone to make efforts in searching and looking for an appropriate residency, all choices and options exist in the market. In order to avoid any major problems and accidents and even diseases that could result in partitioned houses we are keen on ensuring human dignity by enforcing the law and providing guidance and advice”, he noted
On the sidelines of the induction meeting, a meeting was held between the officials of the Ministry of Municipality, the heads of the communities, and the MOI representative of public relations in the meeting room of the Ministry headquarters. During the meeting, the communities’ awareness plans were discussed along with the messages addressed for them.
