DOHA: The Central Municipal Council (CMC) has made a fresh yet informal call for executive powers.
The public representative body has criticised its guardian-ministry, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, for being less responsive to its recommendations and requests for information.
The CMC is so powerless that its chairman and members cannot even go on official trips overseas without approval from the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning, said the vice-chairman of the council. Jassem Al Malki said there was the need to further amend the law that regulates the CMC and arm it with some powers.
The CMC has only consultative status and has been demanding executive powers since its inception in early 1999. It is in its fourth term of four years.
Member Abdullah Al Sulaiti, from New Salata, said the CMC can only make recommendations for improving public amenities or services and launching development projects and it was up to authorities to accept recommendations. He said the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, was less responsive to its recommendations and requests than some other ministries.
Al Sulaiti said the Ministry of Interior is the most responsive, followed by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. “These ministries are quick in their response and are highly cooperative,” he said. “Other ministries and state agencies just don’t listen or ignore what the CMC has to say.”
The municipal ministry should actually be the quickest in responding to the CMC’s recommendations and requests for information, but is actually ranks after the ministries of Interior, Health and Awqaf, Al Sulaiti told Al Sharq.
Another member, Dr Mohamed Al Muslemani, who represents Al Markhiya, said the situation was such that some 70 percent of recommendations made by the CMC in its current tenure were pending with authorities. “No decisions have so far been taken.”
He said the situation was such that CMC members did not know what development projects were being launched in their constituencies. “We come to know of these projects from local newspapers, or some CMC member who have personal contacts with some officials and get advanced information on some projects.”
Some members, however, said they were satisfied with the law that regulates the CMC, which was amended some two years ago to confer some powers on the council. Mishal Al Dhanem and Mubarak Fraish said the law didn’t need further amendments. “We have been able to launch projects that were meant for our constituencies so there is no problem,” Al Dhanem said.
The Peninsula
