Colonel Nasser Al Sayed, Director of Search and Follow Up Department at the Ministry of Interior, answering a question from the audience as Khalid Al Sayed (right), Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, and Hussain Ahmad, Acting Managing Editor, look on.
DOHA: The Peninsula organised a dinner reception for senior representatives of various expatriate communities at the Ritz-Carlton on Thursday.
Speaking at the largely attended and first-of-its-kind event hosted by a newspaper, Khalid Al Sayed, Editor-in-Chief, said the purpose of the meeting was to get closer to expatriate communities and exchange ideas.
He announced that The Peninsula planned to set up an Advisory Committee comprising of members from communities who will advise the newspaper on community perspectives. The members of the proposed advisory panel will be selected by the Peninsula, and he urged those interested to contact the newspaper.
He also said over the years, the newspaper had raised important social and economic issues, which even the Arabic dailies couldn’t.
“Because of media freedom, we have been able to write about serious issues in our newspaper, for some of which we have received appreciation from the government,” Al Sayed said.
One of the issues raised at the function was about The Peninsula providing less coverage to community news and events. And to tackle the problem, a tabloid supplement, The Peninsula Plus, was launched, Al Sayed told the audience.
The Peninsula Plus comes out five days a week except on Fridays and Saturdays. It also keeps readers up-to-date with events in Qatar.
Colonel Nasser Al Sayed, Director of the Search and Follow up Department at the Ministry of Interior (MoI), was the chief guest. In his speech, he spoke about the measures taken by the MoI to get closer to communities, as well as the new facilities at the Deportation Centres of Qatar.
Hussain Ahmad, Acting Managing Editor, said the newspaper reflects the current image and prestige of Qatar on the global stage.
“As an English newspaper, which is read mostly by expatriates, we want to serve as a link between the Qatari and expatriate communities,” Ahmad said.
During an interactive session, Khalid Al Sayed and Hussain Ahmad fielded questions about the editorial policy of the newspaper.
Colonel Nasser Al Sayed, meanwhile, answered questions about the MoI.
Nilanghshu Dey from the Indian community, Dr Sameer Moopan, from Indian Medical Association in Qatar, O J Millar, head of the Nigerian community, Migel Colmenares, representing the Spanish community, Nargis Raza Otho, Principal of the Pakistan Education Center (PEC), Dr Wandoor Abubacker, M S Bukhari, Manmadhan Mambally and others lauded the newspaper for hosting the event, and also spoke about their concerns.
Principals and other representatives of various schools, who were among the guests, asked for more coverage of campus events.
Khalid Al Sayed announced that the event will be an annual affair.
The Peninsula
Above and below: Leaders of various expatriate communities at the reception organised by The Peninsula on Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. (Pictures: Salim Matramkot/Abdul basit)
