By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter


The joint campaign of Qatargas and the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) held under the theme, “We all see you, you are not alone”, has proven to be “highly popular” among Qatar’s residents of different nationalities.
The campaign, launched on March 19 with a budget of QR3mn and scheduled to continue for three years, aims to spread awareness among residents on the importance of curbing their negative practices as far as public cleanliness is concerned. It also stresses the collective responsibility of all people in maintaining clean surroundings.
Through billboards carrying the message “We all see you, you are not alone”, which have been put up on main roads across the country, the campaign seeks to urge people not to spoil the cleanliness of public places through acts such as littering or spitting.
Speaking to Al Rayyan Satellite Channel, an MMUP official said the campaign is meant to address people in an “indirect manner” to change their “improper practices” and take care to ensure that they do not spoil the public facilities they share with others through littering or other such acts. He also stressed it would not have been effective if people were just told “do that and don’t do that”.
“The most effective method is to make people aware of the existence of others and be considerate about their feelings and reactions,” he added.
Further, the official said the initial stages of the campaign have been “very successful” in achieving its target as people felt it was not an order or a warning, but rather a call and invitation towards participation in maintaining the cleanliness and beauty of the country.
Similar opinions are shared by a wide section of Qatar’s residents, who have indicated that the billboard campaign has caught their attention and made them aware of the need to avoid irresponsible individual practices that may have an adverse effect on the cleanliness and beauty of their surroundings.
“It is rather a call, an invitation to be positive and responsible for the cleanliness of the place. Thought it might have been meant originally to be a warning, it has had a gentle impact on members of the public and serves as a friendly reminder, which I think is more effective,” said an Asian expatriate, expressing a view that is shared by many other residents.

Guinness World Record attempt
tomorrow for ‘largest reading lesson’
Under the patronage of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), more than 1,000 school children will attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the “largest reading lesson”, in Arabic, tomorrow.
The event, inspired by the annual Unesco World Book Day, reflects education as a vital component of Qatar National Vision 2030’s human development pillar and also supports preservation of the Arabic language as core to the cultural heritage, according to a statement.
Under its corporate social responsibility programme, RasGas has joined hands with Maktaba Qatar (Maktaba) and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP) to host the event at Qatar National Convention Centre.
More than a thousand children aged between five and 10 years and their teachers, from independent Arabic schools across Qatar, will come together to attempt a new Guinness World Record. The current record was set in the US with 451 children participating in one reading lesson, the statement adds.  
Fauzia Abdalaziz al-Khater, director of the Education Institute (SEC), said: “The SEC is proud to see different organisations such as RasGas, Maktaba and BQFP working together with the collective goal of promoting education through this imaginative reading record for Qatar.”
Ali Zayed al-Marri,  RasGas Public Affairs manager, said: “Our collaboration with the SEC, Maktaba and Bloomsbury recognises reading as a vital educational tool that helps build a more cohesive and productive society in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy 2011-16.
During the event, the kids will take part in an hour-long Arabic reading lesson with BQFP children’s book ‘Anger’, written by Sarah Medina.  The reading lesson will be supervised by Guinness World Records adjudicators who will verify, on site, if the attempt has been successful.
RasGas entered into a partnership with Maktaba in 2013 to promote reading and literacy, especially in Arabic, among young generations. Through its interactive website and mobile applications, Maktaba offers educational Arabic books aimed at young children and their families.
Sarah Champa al-Dafa, founder of Maktaba, said: “Together with RasGas and BQFP, and under the patronage of the SEC, we are delighted to take part in this attempt at a Guinness World Record for the largest children’s Arabic reading lesson.”
Arend Kuster, director of BQFP, said: “We are delighted to support this event by designing the lesson content and to donate special-edition books to all our participants. This is a wonderful way to get children excited about reading and to be involved in what we hope will be an a wonderful achievement in Qatar.”