Minister appoints heavy transport regulatory panel
HE the Minister of Transport Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti has issued Decision No. 50 of 2014 naming the chairman, vice-chairman and members of the heavy transport regulatory committee and set their term and the committee’s powers in line with Cabinet Decision No. 35 of 2014.
The committee includes Ministry of Transport representative Rashed Taleb al-Nabet as chairman and Ministry of Interior representative Brigadier Mohamed Saad Al Kharji as vice-chairman.
Members of the committee are Salem Salem al-Manai as representative of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Nasser Shahin al-Muraikhi as representative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ali Abdullatif al-Misnad as representative of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The committee’s term is a renewable three-year stint and it will meet for the first time on Sunday before holding at least one biweekly meeting or when necessity arises.
The committee is responsible for the regulation of heavy transport and proposing the appropriate mechanism in this regard, setting rules of the nationalisation of heavy transport activities, and the regulation of commercial processes between owners of equipment and businesses, and equipment operators.
Assistant FM meets
Arab human rights
committee chief
HE Assistant Foreign Minister for International Co-operation Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani yesterday met the chairman of the Arab Human Rights Committee Hadi al-Yami and the delegation accompanying him. The meeting reviewed relations between Qatar and the Arab Human Rights Committee.
Brazil Festival starts today at MIA park
By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter
The 10-piece Samba Chula de Sao Braz, one of Brazil’s most unique musical groups, is expected to usher in a lively celebration of the three-day Brazil Festival from today until Saturday at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) park.
Featuring authentic Samba music, the free concert will be the band’s Middle East debut over the weekend.
In a press statement, Qatar Museums said the Qatari audience will also have the opportunity to learn Samba drumming or participate in the samba dance and Capoeira workshops.
“The festival celebrates Brazil with music, story-telling, football and stands selling Brazilian food,” organisers noted.
Drumming workshops starts at 2.45pm today and another session at 8pm. It will start at 3pm tomorrow and another session will be held at 7.45pm. On Saturday, the session starts at 1pm.
Participants will be using authentic Brazilian instruments such as the Surdo (large bass drum), Ago-go Bell and Snare Drum.
“They will experience some of the passion, energy and rhythms associated with Brazil,” organisers said.
For the Brazilian Samba, some styles are danced solo and others with a partner. A workshop will also be conducted from today (3.45pm) and tomorrow (6.30pm).
It will be more of dancing and working out to a great mix of music including traditional samba and remixes of popular songs.
Children and family members can participate in reading sessions in Arabic and English from 3pm to 7.30pm. The programme was developed in collaboration with resident Brazilian artist and filmmaker Luciana Ceccatto Farah.
Talented local story tellers such as Khalid al-Mohannadi and Maryam al-Subaiey will join the group.
Children will also enjoy the face-painting in the colours and images of Brazil’s wildlife. They will be guided in making masks inspired by carnival costumes of Rio de Janeiro.
Those who want to learn unique Brazilian martial arts can join the Capoeira workshop which will be held for three days.The festival also features authentic Brazilian regional specialties and street foods especially during the concert.
International schools move to revamp security
International schools in Qatar with a considerable number of Western expatriate students have taken several steps to improve security measures.
This comes in response to advice issued by the US embassy in view of a recent anonymous posting on an extremist website, which encouraged attacks against American and other Western teachers in the Middle East.
One of the international schools in Doha, where measures have been taken in view of this notification and related information, has issued a circular stating the steps taken to boost security as well as some dos and don’ts for parents of students.
In the circular addressed to parents, the school authorities point out that they have taken note of the advice by the US mission and specific advice issued by the British embassy to British schools, besides information from some other sources.
The school has advised its security staff to be even more alert and vigilant at this time and implemented a new “lock down” procedure to enable all students and staff to be safe and secure if a threatening incident happens outside the school or on the campus. It has also updated its evacuation and “lock down” equipment.
The school has reviewed and practised evacuation procedures to allow for quick and efficient evacuation of the school buildings should a threat be detected there. Stricter security measures have been put in place at the school gates to ensure that visitors submit their ID in return for a visitors’ pass. In addition, the two entry gates have been reviewed to make them more secure during the day.
The school has monitored security and travel advice from a number of embassies and other sources, contacted other schools to discuss security measures and asked for advice and support from the local authorities.
The management has urged parents to be understanding and patient even if it means some inconvenience. Citing the safety of students and staff as the “utmost priority”, the school has requested parents to follow the security advice, be prepared to hand over their ID if asked to do so by the security staff, contact the school if they see any suspicious behaviour or have any information relevant to security, and ensure that the school has up-to-date contact details, especially telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, so that it can contact parents quickly in the unlikely event of an emergency.
The school notes that while it is taking the possible threats seriously, it is not over-reacting as it understands there is no specific planned threat against international schools in Qatar. It has requested parents to remain calm and not to do anything that may cause children to become unnecessarily frightened.
Besides the US embassy posting, the sources mentioned by the school in its circular (for obtaining security advice and related information) include general advice from the British embassy, reports from Australia and newspaper articles from the UK.
Foreign Ministry donates $40mn for EAA’s Gaza efforts
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has signed an agreement to donate $40mn from the Qatar Development Fund to support Education Above All’s (EAA) Al Fakhoora programme being carried out in Gaza.
The funds will be used to rebuild and re-equip damaged schools and university buildings, as well as to provide international scholarships for students who wish to pursue studies in disciplines which respond to Gaza’s needs. The fund will also support training programmes for professionals in both education and health sector. In effect, the agreement will more than double the number the students who are able to benefit from Al Fakhoora scholarships to complete their higher education.
Dr Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Meraikhi, director of Qatar Development Fund, said: “Our contribution will support the efforts to repair the damages incurred on the eight universities in Gaza. Of the universities in Gaza, the Islamic University and the University College of Applied Sciences have incurred the worst damages. It is also estimated that more than 110 schools were destroyed. In addition to its commitment to reconstructing education facilities Al Fakhoora will provide psychosocial and social programmes to the people in Gaza.”
Marcio Barbosa, chief executive officer, EAA, said: “EAA is grateful for the leadership contribution made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Government of the State of Qatar. This represents a milestone towards the achievement of Al Fakhoora’s current mission of reconstructing and rehabilitating educational facilities in Gaza. MOFA’s donation is testament to the recognition by the State of Qatar of the urgent need to improve the lives of people in Gaza through education.”
