DOHA: Qatar is mulling action against engineers employed by foreign consultancies operating in its territory who are not permanently based here and come in every six months just to retain their residence
permit (RP).
A panel that registers engineers says it is coordinating with the Ministry of Interior to know travel details of all engineer-employees of overseas
consultancy offices.
Action will be taken against those engineers who are registered with the committee as employees of overseas consultancies but actually don’t stay
in Qatar.
There are some foreign engineering consultancy firms that simply do table work and sign papers and do not physically supervise building construction.
“Their job ends when a building plan is approved by the authorities. They should actually supervise the construction as they are legally bound, for they have signed an undertaking to the effect,” said the head of Engineers Registration Committee at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning.
Khalid bin Abdul Rahman Al Saad who also heads a committee that accredits engineering consultancies, said there are a total of 33 foreign and 217 local consultancies licensed in the county.
Another common violation noticed is that some people submit forged engineering degrees and even experience certificates seeking registration.
“Recently, we have caught an Asian who had a forged degree,” Al Saad told local Arabic daily
Al Watan in comments published yesterday.
There are a total of 10,050 engineers registered with the committee and only 85 of them are Qatari,” he said.
A GCC-wide engineers’ registration committee is being set up at the GCC general secretariat and registration rules will be unified for the six member states, said Al Saad.
He said it is mandatory for all engineers based in Qatar to register with the committee. Fines and jail terms await those who fail to register.
The Peninsula
