DOHA: An apex panel is being set up that would study current and future needs of labour camps in the country to cater to the rising influx of foreign workers for development projects and prepare plans to make sure that these accommodations are built.
Also, as rents have been on an upswing, the committee will study the rent prices of labour lodgings and submit its recommendations to the government for appropriate action.
A draft proposal of the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning to form the above committee was approved by the State Cabinet yesterday, QNA reports.
The committee will be headed by a representative from the Municipal Ministry, while two of its members will be drawn from other authorities concerned with labour welfare. The panel’s studies will cover present and future requirements for labour accommodations all over the country, QNA said. Meanwhile, at its regular meeting yesterday, the Cabinet also took necessary measures to issue a law whose draft seeks to regulate the licensing of shops, offices, clinics, industrial units, cafeterias, hotels, clubs as well as vending activities was approved by the Cabinet earlier and the Advisory Council later.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud chaired the Cabinet’s meeting. The provisions of this law will also apply to mobile vendors. Under the provisions of the draft law, it is prohibited to open or run an outlet or engage in mobile vending activity without a licence from the competent department of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce. The Minister of Economy and Commerce shall issue a decision specifying the requirements that must be met by the outlets seeking licensing, in addition to the their work timings and the terms and conditions for granting licences to open shops in residential areas as well as their permissible activities. The Cabinet also approved the Minister of Economy and Commerce’s draft decision to issue the executive regulations of Law No 17 of 2013 on organising exhibitions.
The Peninsula
