A three-member delegation is to represent Qatar to the first international conference to be held in Amman, Jordan, today under the title, “the Road to Al Quds (Jerusalem)”.

During the three-day event, the participants will discuss three topics - the religious importance of Al Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic and Christian sanctitites, the support of the Arab and Islamic world and the international community to Al Quds and speeding up the delivery of support to Al Aqsa and the Maqdeseen (inhabitants of Al Quds) .

The Qatari delegation comprises of Rashid Hamad al-Mahdadi, Khalid Hamad al-Libdah, members of the Advisory Council, and Abdulrahman Darwish al-Qadi, legal adviser at the Advisory Council.

 

Minister stresses boosting public transport in region

A delegation from Qatar led by HE the Minister of Transport Jassim Seif  Ahmed al-Sulaiti is attending the fourth Conference of the World Federation of Public Transport for the Middle East and North Africa, which began at Dubai’s World Trade Centre yesterday.

The delegation includes a number of officials from Qatar Rail, among others.

At the opening session yesterday, HE al-Sulaiti, who is also the chairman of UITP (International Union of Public Transport, Middle East and North Africa) spoke on the necessity of strengthening the region’s public transport sector in the coming years.

HE the Minister also explained the initiatives being made in Qatar to strengthen the country’s public transport sector.

Qatar’s Ministry of Transport, he said, sees the conference as a great opportunity for the exchange of experiences between the relevant ministries, especially those involved in the development of transport and communication in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The aim of the conference is to highlight useful ideas and exchange proposals to help the transport sector of the region reach global standards.

 

Al Bida park faces neglect

One of the oldest parks in Doha, the Al Bida Park, is facing neglect, local daily Al Sharq has reported.

Al Bida is visited daily by a large number of people, including foreign tourists, residents and locals.

According to the report, the park’s vast green areas were all suffering from neglect. The colour of the lake water also reportedly has turned yellow and has been covered by a layer of algae and waste from which a bad smell emanates, disturbing the visitors, it says.

Parts of the park building were also decaying and its walls were cracked in absence of refurbishment and restoration by the authorities concerned, the report says.

There is also a need to increase the number of cafeterias at the park since at present, the few eateries present get overcrowded. A number of park visitors criticised the general condition of the park, which they described as poor and called on the concerned authorities to take immediate steps to restore the park.

 

New fish market in Wakrah becoming popular

A new fish market which recently opened in Al Wakrah has begun to attract a large number of buyers, local daily Al Sharq has reported.

The Shubrat Al Wakrah fish market maintains the highest standards of hygiene and quality. A number of customers expressed satisfaction with the market, they said was beyond their expectations. The market which opened a few days ago was seeing a steady rise of customers with each passing day, the daily reported.

Many people admired the architecture of the market which looked like a heritage village. They were also happy with the wider space available to accommodate the large variety of fish in the market, which helps in attracting more customers.

The fish sellers too expressed their satisfaction with the electricity, water services and modern toilets at the market. The new fish market is also equipped with a platform for the daily fish auction that starts at 7am everyday.

The new fish market is a promising start and people said they hoped that more shops would open at the heritage village.

 

Eateries face action for manipulating fish items

Inspectors from the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) recently detected that a number of eateries, including seafood restaurants, were manipulating the types of fish they offered to customers.

Some of these eateries apparently take advantage of the limited knowledge and experience of people and serve low-quality and cheaper varieties of fish in place of what the customers actually order for.

The CPD has issued violation reports to the offenders and taken necessary action against them, including closure of outlets for varying periods.

Further, the CPD has called for all such eateries to abide by the stipulated regulations, including the provision of proper information about the food they offer and avoid manipulation, particularly with regard to fish.

According to Law No 8 of 2008 regarding consumer protection, violators can be penalised by a maximum prison term of two years and a minimum fine of QR3,000 - or a maximum of QR1mn - or any of these penalties.

The owner of the outlet is the main person responsible for the violation and not the workers or staff.