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Close co-ordination should be maintained among all stakeholders in the country to avoid technical faults that may undermine the capabilities of buildings to endure natural effects, in particular rains and high underground water levels, a Central Municipal Council (CMC) panel has said. |
The Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) should devise an active strategy to supervise the technical designs of infrastructure projects, making sure that these are taking into consideration any potential rainfall in the country.
At a recent meeting, the Services and Utility Committee (SUC) of the Central Municipal Council (CMC) has addressed the issue of the adverse impact of rain on the buildings and roads throughout the country.
The issue was earlier raised in the local Arabic press indicating that though it did not rain much, water logging is common in different areas when it rains and the Municipalities were unable to treat these in a timely manner.
Further, the rains worsened the problem of high levels of underground water in some areas, which pops up from time to time in many houses and buildings, incurring heavy damage to properties.
The SUC pointed out that the various technical faults in the design and implementation of several drainage grids were exposed during the last rains. Also, pools of water were formed in some hospitals, schools and a well-known shopping mall, stressing the urgent need to review the overall building strategy in the country.
The committee suggested that respective municipalities play a more active role in supervising the building processes for private buildings and projects.
They should be involved in supervising the various stages of the construction processes to ensure compliance with the approved designs and blueprint.
Besides, they should ask the owner of the building to submit a report on the levels of underground water and a calculation of earth pressure by an approved company in the field before being granted any building permits.
In the meantime, all municipalities should prepare an annual report on the areas of rain water accumulation and provide it to Ashghal to help it come out with suitable and practical solutions.
At the close of the session it was decided that the CMC would discuss the issue further and address the concerned entities with detailed recommendations.
One of four cinema halls opens at West End Park
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One of the four cinema halls in the newly built West End Park on the outskirts of the Industrial Area was opened recently. |
When contacted a senior official of the West End Park said: “Only a soft opening has taken place and the formal inauguration of the four-hall cinema complex will be held sometime in March”.
He said the cinema hall which has been opened is currently screening two Indian movies and tickets are priced at QR15.
There is an exclusive area for families in the hall which has a seating capacity of 500, and the ticket price remains the same everywhere inside the venue.
The official said considering the patronage for the Hindi and other Indian language movies in the area, the company is planning to screen films from India on a regular basis at the facility. All halls at the complex have 500 seats each.
The screening times are 2pm, 5.30pm, 8.30pm and 11.30pm. A Malayalam movie is screened at 2pm and 11.30pm and a Hindi movie is screened at 5.30 and 8.30 pm, said the spokesman of the company.
Bahrain-headquartered Qatar Bahrain International Cinema Company (QBICC) is operating the cinema halls at the West End Park.
QHCP to conduct workshop
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Qatar Council of Health Care Practitioners (QHCP) that pertain to the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) is organising a training workshop on the “Objectives of structured clinical exams” as a final exam for Qatar University (QU) College of Pharmacy (CP) graduates starting from today until Wednesday. |
More than 50 practising pharmacists, teaching staff at CP and representatives from the Supreme Council of Health and QHCP are expected to attend the workshop.
The training workshop aims at laying educational models to measure and evaluate the scientific ability of CP graduates and practising pharmacists and making a comprehensive evaluation of their readiness to work in Qatar as licensed pharmacists.
