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ROOFTOP DANGERS

Aerial photographs of some expatriate-dominated working-class localities in Doha and some of its suburbs have alarmed members of the Central Municipal Council (CMC), the public representative body, as they show the rooftops of old buildings littered with all kinds of junk — from used furniture and tyres to car batteries and paint canisters — considered a danger to the environment and residents. The areas that are a cause of increasing concern are mainly in Doha and include Umm Ghuwailina, Najma, Al Mansoura, Al Ghanem and Doha Jadeed, according to the vice chairman of the CMC, Jassem Al Malki. People (read tenants) usually dump things on the rooftops of buildings mostly for resale later, but tend to forget them over time, Al Malki told a local Arabic daily recently. On his proposal, the CMC last month took up the issue of rooftops, particularly of old buildings in these and other areas, including some suburbs, for a threadbare discussion and called for corrective action. The CMC said that more than being a matter of how pathetic old neighbourhoods looked from high-rise towers, helicopters and planes, the issue needed to be treated as one that involved the safety of the environment and people. There seems to be some confusion about who is responsible for keeping rooftops clean and hazard-free. Some people believe that while the municipality is responsible for keeping public areas clean and can take action against building owners and tenants if there is litter outside the premises, there is no law to fix responsibility for using rooftops as dumping spaces. Legal circles told The Peninsula that a law (No. 29) was passed in 2006 to regulate the upkeep of buildings and executive regulations to help enforce it were put in place through a civic ministerial decision (No. 33) in 2008. According to the law, it is the responsibility of each municipality to monitor the condition and upkeep of buildings in its jurisdiction and report the matter to a specialist committee at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning in case of irregularities, including littering on rooftops. The panel has the legal authority to take action against a building found flouting safety and upkeep rules as it deems fit and haul its owners or tenants over the coals. The legislation says that buildings that spoil the landscape and beauty of an area also attract its provisions. The panel is also responsible for taking appropriate action if buildings are old, dilapidated and abandoned, or left incomplete. Buildings that are neglected and used by children as play areas, or house criminals and runaway workers, or used for immoral activities, or infested by rodents and stray animals also fall within the jurisdiction of the committee although the criminal aspects related to activities carried out in such premises, including storage of weapons and explosives, are to be probed by law-enforcement agencies. The law assumes immense significance, especially as some rooftops, particularly in expatriate-dominated working-class localities, are used as makeshift accommodation for labourers. However, it is not known if any municipality has ever been informed of irregularities in its jurisdiction, although the CMC insists that buildings whose rooftops remain littered with all kinds of waste — some of them hazardous — are galore, particularly in Doha. According to observers, one thing is sure that since the CMC has raised the issue, the authorities are expected to act and take corrective measures. A prominent CMC member, Mohammed Mehmood Al Shafi, who represents New Al Rayyan, said the issue of littered rooftops should not be treated in isolation. It is a problem whose root cause is a mix of factors, among them rising population of the country, a severe lack of accommodation for low-income workers after they were legally banned from residential localities, escalating house rents and limited-income expatriate families sharing accommodations in illegally partitioned villas and old apartments. “If we want that the issue of littered rooftops be taken up seriously for remedial measures, the CMC must first conduct an extensive and in-depth study of what is causing the problem,” Al Shafi said. More workers are expected to arrive to engage in mega development projects amid a shortage of labour camps after they have been banned in residential areas. “So where do the workers go?” wondered Al Shafi. Employers are, therefore, forced to accommodate them on building rooftops as a temporary arrangement. Then, there are limited-income expatriate families that are also proliferating due to the economic boom. Rents are high so many of them are forced to share accommodation. “Now, if 10 families live in a villa that is actually meant for one, there is bound to be all kinds of problems — pressure on the utilities, including electricity and water and on the building — for it is meant to support a particular load,” the CMC member said, who insisted that his constituency didn’t have the problem of littered rooftops. He said the issue of shared accommodations was serious and needed to be looked into by the authorities concerned after the CMC had conducted a study. “I call on the CMC to launch the study and urge the civic ministry to take remedial measures.” The municipal minister can in turn take up the issue with the State Cabinet. “So before we call for clean rooftops, its causes need to be looked into and corrective steps need to be taken.” Another CMC member, Ahmed Al Sheeb, from Umm Salal, said that building owners should think beyond just collecting rents from tenants and pay attention to the premises, their use, safety and upkeep. “What can the municipalities do? The onus lies with the owners.” The Peninsula

When rooftops become junkyards

By FAZEENA SALEEM Many residential and commercial areas across the country are likely to get a better look soon, with the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning preparing to crack down against dumping of goods on rooftops. Based on a recommendation by the Central Municipal Council (CMC), the ministry has instructed all municipalities to take action against owners of buildings with goods and junk on their rooftops. A senior official of Doha Municipality recently called on the city’s residents to report to the municipal authorities if they noticed any building with unclean premises, including rooftops. Ali Nasser Al Hajari, director of the public monitoring department at the municipality, told an Arabic daily that the department had of late received some 500 complaints related to poor hygienic conditions in buildings. The complaints were mainly related to dumping of waste in the premises, water leakage and poor maintenance. “We will soon start inspections and find a solution to the problem” said Al Hajari. Rooftops of many buildings have become places for dumping waste, turning them into breeding grounds for insects. In not only old buildings but many high-rise structures also rooftops are not maintained properly, which is a violation of the law, he said. The official said owners of these buildings will be held responsible for such violations since it is their duty to keep the premises clean. The messy rooftops came into focus after a recent proposal by the Central Municipal Council to the civic authorities to urgently look into the issue and take corrective measures. The CMC’s recommendation was based on two concerns — safety of the buildings and the general appearance of the city. The services committee of the CMC pointed out that following the construction of several flyovers and skyscrapers in the city, rooftops of old villas and low-rise structures had been exposed to public view, and the littered rooftops were presenting an ugly image of the city, especially to tourists. The other aspect, related to safety, is more important since a time tomb is said to be ticking in many crowded residential areas of the country. The CMC pointed out that rooftops of many buildings were used for dumping waste and to store old furniture, toys, wires, batteries, tyres, wood, paint and other flammable material, which could easily cause a fire, especially in summer. Moreover, such untidy places are a haven for rodents and insects and can lead to health problems. The civic body called on the authorities to immediately launch an inspection campaign to identify such buildings and take measures to spruce them up. It also recommended that the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning include a condition in licensing rules making it mandatory for building owners to keep rooftops clean and tidy. The CMC felt that occupants of residential buildings should be encouraged to grow decorative plants on rooftops, which would help make the city clean and green. The terraces of buildings could also be used for physical activities instead of being turned into junkyards. The CMC proposal was widely welcomed by the Qatari community, resulting in a faster-than-usual response from the civic authorities. Several citizens and residents have expressed the view that the issue in question needs immediate attention for a number of reasons. The problem affects almost all parts of Doha, especially the densely populated residential areas. It has worsened due to the practice of partitioning of villas into small units that are then let out to many families. Greedy real estate agents are thriving on this practice, cashing in on a shortage of affordable housing units in the country. A Indian expatriate living in the Al Murra area, which has a large number of old villas, said he had been a victim of poorly maintained premises. “ I am staying in a partitioned villa along with a number of other families. The building is so old that cracks have appeared on the roof. The agents who rented out the villa have dumped furniture, wooden doors, paint, cables and wires on the rooftop. These, along with the water tanks and dish antennas belonging to each family, occupy the entire roof. If there is rain or overflow from the tanks, the rooftop gets inundated and the water leaks into our rooms,” he said. Such partitioning also poses safety risks. Every available space in the premises is used to build extensions. Such constructions are illegal but the municipal authorities mostly turn a blind eye. “Rooftops of many buildings are being used to accommodate labourers. There are laws to prevent this but they are not properly implemented,” said a citizen in remarks to a local Arabic daily that recently carried a special report on this issue. He said many old buildings were accommodating families and single workers in numbers far beyond their capacity. “This is putting additional pressure on the water, electricity and sewage network. Power supply in most partitioned villas is handled in a very unsafe manner and using substandard material. There is no mechanism to monitor this and ensure safety. A fire or a crash can occur any time in such overpopulated buildings,” he added. CMC member Hamad bin Khaled Al Ghanim said, “These poorly maintained buildings not only give a bad image to the city but they are also dangerous to the occupants. Most of the buildings are old. They should be renovated or demolished.” The CMC had earlier proposed to the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning that it prepare a list of buildings in the country to be demolished or in need of immediate repairs. The CMC also proposed issuing guidelines for maintenance of buildings that would be helpful to property owners as well as municipal inspectors monitoring buildings. According to the law, if the committee concerned at the ministry takes a decision regarding maintenance or demolition of a building and the owner fails to implement it within the given time frame, the ministry will do it on its own and force the owner to bear the expense, which will be 25 percent more than the actual cost. The most common violations of the law include keeping openings for air conditioners uncovered, exposing water tanks on rooftops to public view and failure to stick to the permitted colours for buildings. Many residents want the CMC proposal to clean up rooftops to be implemented at the earliest. “It’s good a decision has been taken to keep rooftops clean. People keep all types of things on rooftops, from building materials and cardboard boxes to wires. If a fire breaks out in such places, especially where many people live, it will be very difficult to control the situation,” said Imara Brantha, a working mother living in a partitioned villa in the Madinat Khalifa area. “In case of an electrical short circuit or fire it is difficult even to find the main switch of our building. So it’s better to take preventive measures,” she added. Many residents said they hardly used the rooftops because they were in a bad condition. A professional living in an apartment in the Old Airport area said, “People living here hardly get a chance to use their rooftops. Either the place is filled with unused things or TV cables and dishes. Wires are everywhere. It is dangerous.” “Here there are few places for children to play at home. Safe rooftops can be an ideal place if they are kept clean and safe. But now those are the most dangerous places,” said a banker and father of two living in the Najma area. “Rainwater doesn’t get drained properly because the rooftops are filled with many things. Although we don’t get mosquitoes here, still it can be dangerous and create health problems,” said a housewife living in a villa in the Muntaza area. Since doors to rooftops remain open all the time, especially in areas dominated by labourers, they could be used for illegal activities such as gambling and making hooch, said some residents. THE PENINSULA Officials decline comment Doha: The Doha Municipality, National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) and the General Directorate of Civil Defence refused to comment on the issue of buildings having untidy rooftops and, in some cases, labourers living there. Contacted for their remarks, senior officials of Doha Municipality, NHRC and Civil Defence said they were not authorised to interact with the media. They insisted that media persons approach them through “proper channels”, meaning through their public relations departments. Official request letters, printed on the letterhead of the newspaper, needed to be sent to the agencies, giving details about the issue and the questions to be asked. However, since this write-up was done on a short notice, going through “proper channels” was not an option as it would have taken a lot of time. So the write-up does not include the views of officials. THE PENINSULA

Qatar third in sending Arab tourists to Egypt

Youths swim at the sea to cool off on a hot day in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria yesterday. DOHA: The tourist inflow into Egypt has been growing with Qataris ranking third among Arab tourist arrivals in the country, after visitors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Some 2.5 million Arab tourists arrived in Egypt last year, and the country’s tourism ministry expects the number to soar to three million by this year-end. Arab tourist arrivals totalled only 1.8 million in 2011. In the first quarter of this year (January to March), Arab tourist arrivals in Egypt totalled a little over 520,000, up 7.5 percent over the corresponding period of 2012, when the figure was 484,000. Arab tourists have larger stays in Egypt as compared to their counterparts from the rest of the world, the average being 11 nights in 2011, Al Sharq reported yesterday, citing tourism ministry figures. Arab tourists spent 7.4 million nights in Egypt in 2012, up 14.4 percent over the previous year, and their average spending per night was $83.7. Egypt’s tourism minister, Hisham Zazou, said that his country banked more on tourists from the GCC countries and gave them much importance because the region contributed hugely to the tourism industry. He said he expected tourist arrivals from the oil-rich GCC region to breach the one million-mark by year-end.

WHO to help Saudi probe virus before Haj

An electron microscope image of a coronavirus, part of a family of viruses that cause ailments including the common cold and SARS, which was first identified last year in the Middle East. Jeddah/GENEVA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that it would help Saudi Arabia dig deeper into deadly outbreaks of a new SARS-like virus to draw up advice ahead of the annual Haj pilgrimage, which attracts millions of Muslims. The UN agency, which is not currently recommending any restrictions on travel to the kingdom or screening of passengers at airports or entry points, will send a second team of experts in the coming weeks, WHO director-general Margaret Chan said. The virus, which can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia, emerged in Saudi Arabia last year and has been found in 33 people there, killing 17. They are among the 44 cases and 22 deaths worldwide, according to the WHO, which has called it the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). “Without that proper risk assessment, we cannot have clarity on the incubation period, on the signs and symptoms of the disease, on the proper clinical management and then, last but not least, on travel advice,” Chan told the WHO’s annual ministerial meeting in Geneva. The WHO, which sent a first team to Saudi Arabia this month, will provide a fresh risk assessment ahead of this year’s Haj, which takes place in October. “We need to get the facts clear and get the appropriate advice to all your countries where your pilgrims want to go to Makkah. It is something quite urgent,” Chan said. Millions flock to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina for Haj, although pilgrims come and go all year round. The virus has also been found in Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia, UAE, while isolated cases have been exported to France, Britain and Germany by visitors. Saudi Arabia said yesterday that tighter controls had helped to stamped out a MERS-CoV outbreak in a hospital in the eastern region of Al Ahsa, which infected 22 people, killing 10. “Certain infection control measures were applied because we thought there was some transmission happening in the areas where the patients were clustered. These included the ICU (intensive care unit) and the haemo-dialysis unit,” Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Health Minister Ziad Memish told the Geneva talks. The measures included separating patients or increasing the distance between them, and reduction of direct contact. Many questions remain about how the new virus spreads and what the vector may be, ranging possibly from animals to surface contamination. Saudi and WHO officials say there has been some contagion between people, but only where contact has been close and prolonged. Saudi authorities have collected a large number of samples from bats, camels, sheep and cats for testing, Memish said. Asked about the risk factors for contracting the disease, Memish said: “It seems like being a male is a risk factor, being old is a risk factor; having underlying diseases including diabetes, heart disease and renal failure seem to be putting people at risk.” Reuters

Russia says Assad ready to talk peace

Demonstrators wave Syrian opposition flags during a protest against Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad at the courtyard of Fatih mosque in Istanbul yesterday. MOSCOW: Syria’s most powerful ally Russia said yesterday that the Damascus regime had agreed “in principle” to attend an international peace conference on the crisis that world powers hope will take place in Geneva in June. But Moscow also criticised Syria’s various opposition groups for presenting tough demands that in some cases included the exclusion of President Bashar Al Assad’s representatives from the negotiations. Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Russia had received the Damascus government’s agreement to take part in the Geneva conference during a visit to Moscow by Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad. “We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from Damascus to attend the international conference in the interest of the Syrians themselves finding a political path to resolve the conflict,” Lukashevich told reporters. Russia is seen as the nation exercising the strongest influence over the Syrian regime thanks to years of military and other cooperation that stretches back to Soviet times. Moscow has in recent weeks also been keen to show its diplomatic influence in the region by ensuring that Assad’s representatives attended a conference agreed this month by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry. Some European media have reported that the meeting has been already tentatively scheduled for June 10, with the focus on ending 26 months of bloodshed that a Syrian observer group says has claimed more than 90,000 lives. But Lukashevich said reports of a specific date for the conference “cannot be taken seriously” because the ranks of Assad’s foes remained so split. “Demands to immediately name a specific date for the conference without having clarity about who — and with what authority — will speak in the name of the opposition, cannot be taken seriously,” Lukashevich said. Syria’s main opposition group entered a second day of talks in Istanbul yesterday aimed at finding a joint approach to what has already been dubbed as the “Geneva 2” conference. AFP