BY YASIN ABU TAQIU
DOHA: Some stalls at the Central Fruits and Vegetables Market double as workers’ accommodation at night, the Central Municipal Council (CMC) said yesterday and asked authorities to take corrective measures.
A team of CMC members visited the market, reviewed the situation and took photographs.
The members belonged to the civic services committee and showed the photographs to fellow members at an open discussion on the bad shape of the market.
Some photographs showed how some stalls were changed into tents to double as living quarters for workers at night. The workers even cooked food there and ate in violations of laws and safety rules.
The CMC wondered how such things were allowed to happen at the market where municipal and consumer department inspectors visits regularly to check the market’s operations.
“Some people have set up tents to sleep as if they were their home, something civilised and not representative of Qatar’s development,” said Jassim Al Malki, Deputy Chairman, CMC.
A picture showed a stall transformed into a tent with a blue cover sheet, and a cooking stove and pairs of shoes outside.
Other pictures included those of flooding in and around the market, during the recent rains, goods put on the ground near the logged water and cars parked knee-deep in water. The photographs exposed the hollow claims of authorities about pre-rain measures taken to prevent water-logging in different areas.
“There need to be immediate efforts to rectify violations in this place, it’s a shame that it is happening in this country,” said Councillor Mohammed Al Dosarri. “We always see municipal inspectors checking hotels and restaurants. Where are they? Why can’t they stop these violations?”
The CMC has recommended that civic officials reorganise and allocate proper places outside the market to build stalls for fruits and vegetables, in compliance with public health standards.
They also asked authorities to send more inspectors to the market, remove illegal tents and ensure that traders have licences.
In the presence of senior Ashghal officials, the CMC also discussed the impact trucks were making on roads.
Councillors said several roads were being damaged by trucks that did not comply with the specified carriage weight and this cost the government millions of riyals in repair every year.
Saud bin Abdullah Al Henzab, Chairman, CMC, said trucks were visible on all roads, even internal roads despite the opening of the Temporary Truck Route (TTR-Lusail Road).
“We need more signposts that indicate roads which do not accept trucks and inspectors to implement these rules,” he said.
“Violating truckers should be booked and repeated violations should carry serious penalties like non-renewal of the truck’s licence.”
Al Henzab said violating trucks were more visible in the Industrial Area where they carrying loads of almost 40m tonnes on roads.
Councillors also showed pictures of damaged roads they had taken.
The CMC recommended the setting up of a technical committee of officials from the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, Ashghal, the Ministry of Transport and others to study the impact of heavy vehicles on roads and suggest permanent solutions. It agreed on recommendations tabled by the Public Utilities Committee to solve the problem of partitioning villas into small accommodations which has become common across the country.
The committee asked the municipality to acknowledge the growing number of expatriates bringing over their families and make adequate planning and housing where low- and moderate-income expat families can stay at affordable rent. It asked the municipality to consider making ‘row houses’ which are cheaper, affordable and similar to those for workers in other developed countries that rely on migrant workers.
The Peninsula
