DOHA: Senior officials of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning have been privately accusing Central Municipal Council (CMC) members of taking the credit for launching and completing various civic projects to hog the limelight, say some local media circles.
The projects are actually being conceptualised, launched and completed by the civic and other ministries but the CMC is using the media to create the impression that it is behind all development efforts, say ministry officials.
The CMC vehemently denies any difference of opinion between its members and ministry officials and says any misunderstandings that arise during the course of their interaction can be sorted out at the routine monthly meeting of its chairman and the municipal minister. Notwithstanding the CMC’s denial, some in media circles insist the public representative body is indeed on a collision course with the ministry.
Public pressure is, therefore, mounting on both sides to sit across the table and sort out their differences in the public interest. And, interestingly, despite its denial of differences with the civic ministry, the CMC maintains its members do have the right to claim credit for development projects launched or completed in their constituencies.
The CMC blames sections of the media for what it says is their tendency to manufacture stories of its rising rivalry with ministry officials.
“We are a public representative body with only consultative status. We don’t enjoy executive powers. However, on the demand of our constituents we do propose some projects to the civic ministry and they are accepted and implemented as well,” CMC chairman Saud Al Hanzab told The Peninsula yesterday.
He said his personal estimates suggest that out of a 100 civic projects launched or completed in a constituency, some 20 to 40 are the brainchild of the CMC member. “If a CMC member suggests a project for his ward and if that proposal has been accepted and the project has been launched or completed, it is natural that the member would be happy and claim credit for that, so what’s the harm,” asked Al Hanzab.
Besides, the budget of the civic ministry for development work is divided among the 29 municipalities so each ward gets its due share. “A CMC member is always under pressure, for he has been chosen by his constituents so he must deliver. The constituents have every right to make demands for projects in their locality,” said the CMC chief.
Denying differences with the ministry, Al Hanzab said he meets the Municipal Minister as a matter of routine every month and raises issues that might affect the smooth coordination between the CMC and the ministry.
The Peninsula
