CMC members attending the regular session yesterday.

By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter

 

The Central Municipal Council (CMC) yesterday urged Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) to launch a campaign to inspect buildings across the country and ensure the cleanliness of their water tanks.

The campaign could be conducted by appointing specialised local companies, the municipal council suggested at its fortnightly session.

The council said that owners of buildings found with unclean water tanks should be issued notice to either clean or replace them.

Kahramaa was also called upon to prepare a guidebook including instructions on how to keep the tanks clean and reduce water and electricity consumption.

This, CMC members said,  should be accompanied by a public awareness campaign  to keep people informed on the harmful consequences of ignoring regular maintenance and cleaning of their water tanks.

The council recommended that Kahramaa should study the possibility of issuing binding instructions to building owners to perform regular maintenance of their water tanks as part of the building licence. 

It also recommended that the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) should perform proper tests on all brands of imported bottled water prior to allowing their sale.

In another recommendation, the council called on the Department of Laboratories and Standardisation at the Ministry of Environment to prepare a guidebook on  standards for sanitary and electrical products.

The Consumer Protection Department of the Ministry of Business and Trade should co-ordinate with these entities to ban low-quality and non-standard appliances and components used in such products, it was suggested.

The council also issued recommendations to upgrade and improve road signs around the country to provide better directions for road users. It wanted the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) to co-ordinate with the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) to adopt a  mechanism  regulating the instalment of road signs in a way “that gives them more visibility”.

The council issued a number of recommendations addressed to the MMUP and the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs to control the unregulated spread of billboards on the roads, including religious announcements. These should be strictly monitored to ensure compliance with the proper religious texts and principles and should get prior permits from the authorities concerned before approval for installation.

Meanwhile, a CMC proposal for Qatari embassies to co-ordinate with reputable manpower  agencies abroad to recruit suitable domestic workers has got the approval of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

The suggestion was made earlier by the CMC and addressed to the ministry with a view  to improving  the recruitment process, reduce the escalating fees and open new markets for domestic worker supply to the country.

In a communique to the CMC, the ministry said  the recommendation was a good one which  would considerably improve the quality of the recruited workers and suggested the proposal  should be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for implementation.

Similarly, the  Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said  a recommendation regarding giving this category of workers adequate training on the culture and customs of the Qatari society in their countries of origin should be addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Some countries such as the Philippines are already doing this,” it noted.

Regarding imposing a unified  recruitment fees on local manpower agencies, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs said it was  studying this measure in co-ordination with the  parties concerned.

The ministry informed the CMC that a committee had been formed with representatives from the Ministry of Interior and major  manpower agencies to establish a unified mechanism for recruitment from the labour-exporting countries.  The committee will look into opening new markets at different countries for such category of workers. Local recruiters have been told not to hold any direct meetings with the  embassies concerned without prior authorisation.

The ministry favoured negotiations, in co-ordination with the Foreign Ministry, with the Philippines government, to allow at least five recruitment agencies instead of the currently approved two to deal with local recruiters.  The municipal council said that increasing the number of the approved agencies in Philippines would greatly help in reducing the recruitment fees and introduce healthy competition.

Presently, the  Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs  facilitates a free-of-charge online interview between the employer and potential recruits before they come into the country and consider this process as an integral part of evaluating the services of recruitment agencies. It has also launched an awareness campaign through various means of media to inform people  about the  issues involved in recruiting domestic helpers.

Based on the CMC recommendation, the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry has addressed the General Secretariat of the Federation of GCC Chambers to adopt a mechanism for the selection and approval of the recruitment agencies in the countries that export domestic helpers to GCC countries.