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The Expressway programme which comprises of 980km of new roads, a set of bridges, tunnels and multilevel interchanges, in addition to the complete set of related infrastructure, is estimated to be completed by 2022, Ashghal, the Public Works Authority has said. |
The announcement was made by Ashghal officials during a visit of the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, to the Ashghal headquarters recently.
Briefing the Prime Minister on its programmes and projects, Ashghal highlighted a list of consultancy and construction contracts that were awarded in 2013 and those scheduled to be awarded in 2014 as part of Ashghal’s mandate to build a comprehensive network of world-class expressways in order to support the sustainable development of Qatar.
HE the Premier was told about Ashghal’s Roads and Infrastructure in Local Areas Programme, which includes developing and upgrading local roads, drainage and new infrastructure across the country’s five regions. The programme consists of 227 projects in different regions, including building roads and sewerage infrastructure, in addition to rain and storm water networks, street lightings and traffic control, and others. These projects cover a total area of 826mn sq m, and serve more than 1,32,000 houses, plots of land, businesses and services.
As part of the visit, HE the premier attended an electronic simulation demonstration on the current and future projects Ashghal is implementing for the 2013 – 2018 period, and different regions of Qatar, including areas assigned to host the FIFA world cup 2022.
HE Sheikh Abdullah stressed on following the broad vision and directions of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, on the importance of developing the needed infrastructure for Qatar’s nationals and residents in different villages and rural areas outside Doha, and on responding to their different needs of infrastructure and services.
The prime minister also stressed on the importance of regular communication with the public on all details related to these projects such as project commencement dates and expected schedules, developments of implementation stages and achieved milestones, any delays or postponements and the reasons of such happenings. He appreciated the timely completion of the Corniche projects that included converting the roundabouts to signallised intersections.
HE the Prime Minister and the accompanying delegation also visited Ashghal’s Contact Centre that was launched in May 2013. The centre was launched to enable customers to communicate with Ashghal round the clock, seven days a week. It is managed by a team that uses an automated system to register and follow up on customer calls and suggestions, as the centre handles more than 5,000 calls every month.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by HE the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP), Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa al -Thani. HE the Premier was greeted by Nasser Bin Ali al -Mawlawi, President of the Public Works Authority and a number of Ashghal’s Department Managers, at Ashghal’s corporate headquarters in West Bay.
Al-Mawlawi said: “The visit of HE the Prime Minister to the Public Works Authority emphasises the importance that the government gives to monitoring Ashghal’s projects. These projects are very critical and have a big role in driving the socio-economic growth of Qatar and in serving the communities. “
