National Food Security Programme to launch 10-year holistic plan
Qatar National Food Security Programme will launch this year a ten-year (2014- 2024) holistic plan for ensuring food security in the country, a senior official has said.
The programme is aimed at reducing dependence on food imports and the plan will lead to developing of a national strategy to build agricultural infrastructure for this purpose, local Arabic daily Al-Sharq has quoted Fahad bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, the executive president of Qatar National Food Security Programme as saying.
He has stated that Qatar is currently importing approximately 95% of its food and meeting almost all of its water needs by desalination of seawater.
He mentioned that the Food Security Programme was a pioneer effort by the Government and it aims at keeping pace with the growth of the country and sustainability principles. The programme is responsible for increasing the quantity of food production in Qatar.
Al-Attiyah has mentioned in an interview published on the website of the US NPR broadcasting service that Qatar produced around 1mn cubic metres of water daily which is distributed to all types of uses. He referred to works in progress to increase this quantity by 800,000 cubic meters and said the additional capacity can be used for the agricultural sector.
Construction of
Communicable
Diseases Hospital
progressing well
The construction of the Communicable Diseases Hospital at the Hamad Medical City that is expected to be completed in the last quarter of this year (2014), has reached up to 42%, local Arabic daily Al Sharq reported.
The level of achievement on the construction of the hospital was seen during a recent tour of the hospital by officials of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), which is in charge of planning, designing and direct supervision of the project to ensure that the buildings are sustainable with integrated services and established according to the best approved standards as well as world specifications.
Work has been completed on main building and support services such as electricity sub-station, ground water tanks and water for automatic fire extinguishing system.
The hospital, that is expected to cost QR85mn on completion, contains some 65 rooms, including waiting rooms, utilities for the medical and administrative staff, patient service units, an advanced system of combating fire, the central air-condition system and outpatient clinics.
Four get jail term for importing hashish
The Criminal Court has sentenced a Gulf national and three Iranians to 15 years in jail and a fine of QR300,000 each for importing 26kg of hashish for trading purposes, local Arabic daily Arrayah reported.
The convicts, who trespassed into Qatar’s territorial waters, were nabbed by the Coasts and Borders Security Department at Al Shamal district (Ras bin Omran). The boat was coming from Iran.
They were referred to the court by the Narcotics Combating Department of the Public Prosecution.
Umm Salal street to be expanded
The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) Planning Department has issued a decision to expand the commercial street at Umm Salal Area, south of the Municipality building.
Also, three new commercial venues are being constructed there for the service of the inhabitants of the area.
