The Central Municipal Council (CMC) has called for a new mechanism to issue building permits and expedite the process. At its regular session Tuesday, the CMC issued a number of recommendations to the entities concerned to make the process of issuing building permits easier and faster. 
 It asked the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) to consider the possibility of increasing the number of surveyors at the Department of Lands and Survey to quicken the necessary measures for making a land survey for the applicants. 
Similarly, the council asked Qatar Development Bank and the Engineers and Engineering Offices Accrediting and Classifying Committee to intensify awareness campaigns on how to make contracts with consultative offices, and that it is necessary that the contract includes all the related agreements and drawings. 
The council also issued other recommendations for the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) aimed at maintaining smoother traffic circulation on highways throughout the country. The council asked the MoTC to review a study of all the roads in the country and evaluate them to reduce the number of roundabouts, as they cause delays to the smooth movement of traffic. 
Besides, the council suggested that the MoTC should study the possibility of converting these roundabouts on into underpasses and flyovers to ensure smooth traffic movement. The council reviewed the response of HE the Minister of Municipality and Environment regarding its previous recommendations on banning the allocation of private closed rooms at the shisha cafes. 
It stressed that its previous recommendations should be addressed adequately in this regard. The council had recommended that all the private and closed rooms and cabins at the shisha cafes should be closed and banned. Further, the glass barriers at the shops that offer smoking of tobacco and its derivatives should be transparent to make it easy to ensure that no one under 18, whether in the company of their family or not, is present.
As part of the council’s efforts to improve municipal services in the country, it hosted at yesterday’s session senior officials from the MME's Public Gardens Department. They presented plans for establishing parks and public gardens across the country. CMC members discussed these plans with the officials and voiced their concerns and suggestions based on the demands of their constituencies.
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