A CMC session in progress yesterday. PICTURE: Najeer Feroke
By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter
The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) will soon set time-span for road works, particularly digging, undertaken by contractors, the Central Municipal Council (CMC) was told yesterday.
Yusuf Abdulrahman al-Emadi, director, road maintenance department at Ashghal, said at the bi-weekly session of the CMC that the first phase of the new system will be introduced this month while the next phase will begin in June.
As per the new system, a field assessment will be conducted on the period required for digging process and finishing work, especially maintenance work. Accordingly, the contractor will be given a time-span to finish the work.
Ashghal will then monitor the progress of work according to the set schedule and follow up the situation on ground with the contractor. Those who fail to comply with the time limit would be penalised.
At the session yesterday, the CMC also hosted officials from the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP), Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), and the Ministry of Municipality.
The CMC voiced concerns over several dug up roads in the country. The members echoed the public complaints that such work is sometimes unorganised and takes much longer time to finish.
Nasser Mohamed al-Nuaimi, a Kahramaa official, said, “Kahramaa faces a challenge when many house owners submit requests to increase their water and electricity load and get it approved by the municipality. This entails digging. Besides, the streets paved with interlocked bricks present a further challenge in underground maintenance work, because it involves more time and cost. So, the interlocking bricks should be replaced with some synthetic material that could be removed and replaced easily.”
While the suggestion was hailed by most CMC members, Ashghal director al-Emadi said that a study should be conducted to see if such an option would be feasible.
Ministry officials said the inspectors monitor digging works regularly and make sure that those who do not comply with the regulations are dealt with according to the rules.
The CMC also received a suggestion regarding the precautions that should be enforced when undertaking building demolition work to mitigate the adverse health and environmental consequences from the dust. The issue was referred to the CMC public services and utilities committee for further study and
recommendations.
The CMC reviewed the responses of the Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP) on the recommendations of the council regarding the difficulties faced by consultative engineering offices.
The response indicates that the charges and fees on such offices are already reasonable and could not be reduced further, as they are less than those in neighbouring countries.
Regarding a recommendation to allow Qatari engineers, employed by the government, to open private consulting engineering offices, the minister said that a study will be conducted to see whether this is possible and would not negatively impact their main public duties.
