DOHA: The Qatar Chamber has called on the government to urgently intervene and check spiralling commercial rents.
The Chamber has warned that commercial rents are spinning out of control and taking a serious toll on small businesses. The businesses are passing on the burden to the end-user so the ultimate sufferer is the hapless consumer.
The rents are now ruling at back-breaking levels of QR400 to QR500 ($137.3) per square metre.
These were the rates at which properties were actually available for sale in Doha before the onset of the current economic boom.
“Rents of QR400/QR500 per sqm mean that to take a 100-metre commercial space on rent one must pay a monthly rent of QR50,000. This is mind-boggling,” said a director of the Chamber.
Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidly said the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, which boasts a consumer rights watchdog, has set up a committee that monitors the central markets. The watchdog — the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) —must also track commercial rents and make sure they are within justifiable limits.
Al Obaidly told reporters after a meeting of the agricultural committee of the Chamber which he heads, that the state is building a logistics zone, which is a welcome move. But the most effective way the government can help the private sector grapple with the challenges it is facing due to rising commercial rents is provide them land.
“That’s the only way we can check the spiralling commercial rents,” said Al Obaidly. And reduced commercial rents would mean falling inflation rate which would eventually benefit society at large—limited-income expatriate families as well as nationals.
Talking about the central markets, he said new central markets (one for vegetables and fruits, the other for fish and seafood and the third for meat and livestock), should be made after careful studies. The new markets should be established out of the city limits of Doha. The fish market should be opened in the coastal area, while the meat and livestock market should be set up near the New Doha Port.
Similarly, the vegetable market should be opened in an area closer to farmlands. He lauded the Ministry and said it is closely interacting with the private sector and taking their views on issues related to industry. The idea is to help widen the role of the private sector in the national economy, said Al Obaidly. The Peninsula
