CMC calls for shifting Doha Central Market

The current location of the Doha Central Market at Abu Hamour is no longer suitable due to the increasing number of residential buildings there, the Central Municipal Council (CMC) has urged.
At its regular biweekly session yesterday, the civic body reiterated its demands and recommendations to shift the market place to another location, due to the environmental and health hazards.
CMC members argued that the surroundings of the market now includes the Mesaimeer Health Centre, the houses of many Qataris and expatriates and other key administrative and services buildings.
They pointed out that the issue has been addressed several times with various promises from officials that it would be shifted but nothing changed and the situation continues to escalate with the increasing activities in the market and the growth of residential units around it.
The council said that it had addressed Widam Food Company, but the company said that it is only renting and developing the place. According to a CMC member, the issue is now in the hands of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) and the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC).
Eventually, the council recommended that MME should take the necessary steps to start shifting the market, especially the livestock market, to another location away from residential areas.
The council also discussed the issue of overloading of trucks and their harmful effects on the road infrastructure in the country. The CMC recommended that the authorities concerned should make dedicated truck tracks on the roads, whether inside the city or on the highways.
The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) should increase the number of weighing stations for trucks at the exits and entrances of various industrial areas to curb the practices of some drivers who overload their trucks.
The Traffic Department should co-ordinate with Ashghal and increase its patrols to spot those violating the regulations regarding the proper loads of trucks. More control should be exercised to make truck drivers abide by their assigned tracks and lanes on public roads.
The council also issued some recommendations regarding the necessity of introducing service lanes and emergency parking on the sides of highways to avoid traffic jams and standoffs in case of accidents or any road emergencies such sudden breakdown of vehicles on the road.
The CMC reviewed the response of Woqod regarding its efforts to replace the steel LPG cylinders with lightweight Shafaf composite cylinders. Woqod told the council in a correspondence that it has already started an operation to partially replace steel cylinders with Shafaf. However, the local market has more than 400,000 steel cylinders in circulation and to replace them all with Shafaf, it would take some time, and the company is expecting to accomplish this process by mid-2017.