National Day greetings sent
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, HH the Deputy Emir and Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, yesterday sent congratulatory cables to the president of Senegal on his country’s National Day.
Qatar-Iran cultural ties discussed
HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari yesterday met Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Dr Seyed Mohamed Hosseini.
The Iranian minister extended to him an invitation to attend the 3rd Meeting of High Ranking Officials and Culture Ministers of the Asia Co-operation Dialogue (ACD), due to be held in Tehran, on May 6-7 2013, bringing together more than 30 Asian countries.
Talks during the meeting dealt with prospects of cultural co-operation between the two countries and means of promoting it through various cultural exchange programmes.
Increase in demand for bachelor units may spur rents
By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter
The steady increase in demand for small residential units in Doha for single expatriates and the resultant hike in rents is feared to affect the prospects of families searching for accommodation.
If a villa is partitioned for three or four small families the rent would be QR11,000 a month, with utility charges extra, but if the same villa is given for shared accommodation for executive bachelors, the minimum rent would be QR15,000, a real estate agent said.
He justified the increase in rent by saying that when bachelors live in a villa, the number of individuals would be more and constitute an increased load on the building itself. As for families, the number will be less and they would keep the building clean and maintain it regularly. But in many cases, real estate owners prefer families because they believe that families are unlikely to cause any trouble.
A two-room family apartment in a good area in a partitioned villa in Doha may cost up to QR3,000 a month with a private kitchen and bathroom, including water and electricity charges. The same would be given to bachelors for around QR4,500 because up to six of them may occupy it.
Further, apartments within Doha have gone out of the reach of many expatriates, with a small two-room apartment costing over QR4,000 a month besides the charges for the other services. The rooms are usually smaller than that of a villa, hence families usually go for partitioned villas in spite of the privacy issues involved.
Most newcomers to Doha, often on bachelor status, find it hard to get a suitable and affordable accommodation. Renting a whole apartment or villa is usually beyond the reach of many, even those with managerial or engineering jobs. It is at this stage that the ‘real estate agent,’ mostly ‘self proclaimed unlicensed expatriates’ step in to take whole units from the owner and rent it after splitting it into small units.
“If I rent a single room in an apartment with a sharing kitchen and bathroom, it would cost me up to QR3,000, and eat up a considerable portion of my salary,” said Khalid, a home appliance sales executive, while indicating that proximity to one’s workplace is very important.
Key areas in Doha like Najma, Mansoura, Mamoura, Al-Thumama and the Old Airport usually have great demand from such category of people; especially newcomers because these locations give them easy access to downtown. Eventually, expatriate young men opt for sharing a single room within a villa or an apartment. A small room may accommodate up to five people, and the per head share would be limited to a few hundreds riyals.
Many expatriates, who have been in Doha for a long time, believe the real estate market is stable and the rise in rent is not much as the number of available units is high. A considerable number of them believe that real cause for rising rents is because of most owners preferring to lease their houses through middlemen. Back in 2008, it was even very hard to find a suitable accommodation, they pointed out.
“A small room would cost at least QR3,000 a month, and it was crazy, when you call somebody to have a view of the room or apartment before signing the contract, while you were on the way to go there, he would call you saying: Sorry, it is already gone. Now there are plenty of units with varied prices and facilities,” added Adel, an expatriate engineer who has been in Doha for a decade.
Qatari dies of H1N1 infection
QNA/Doha
The Supreme Council of Health has announced the first death this year of a 43-year-old Qatari citizen of Influenza A (H1N1).
The Council said the citizen was admitted to hospital on March 29 complaining of difficulty in breathing and a rise in temperature, adding that he was also suffering from chronic diseases.
After medical examinations it became evident that the patient was suffering from severe pneumonia and was given anti-flu treatment.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit under the supervision of a medical team but his condition did not improve and he died yesterday.
The Supreme Council of Health has expressed its condolences to the family of the victim.
The Council added that it follows up all cases in co-operation with the National Influenza Centre of Hamad Medical Corporation and monitors and registers cases in the country, noting that it is one of the accredited centres in the world, which operates under the supervision the World Health Organisation (WHO) to diagnose the influenza virus samples and provide the necessary information.
The Council appealed to all citizens and residents to take preventive measures and to visit the nearest health centre when flu symptoms are suspected, especially those accompanied by a rise in temperature, coughing, sneezing or shortness of breath.
The Council stresses the importance of vaccination against influenza, especially for people at risk of influenza complications including the elderly, persons suffering from chronic diseases, children under five, pregnant women and people suffering from immune deficiency.
