Shura Council Speaker H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim chairing a session of the Council yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: The Shura Council reviewed the report of the Services and the Public Utilities Committee on the general discussion request submitted by a number of Their Excellencies Council members regarding ‘rainwater accumulation and subsequent losses caused’.
This came in the Council’s regular weekly session held yesterday at Tamim bin Hamad Hall under the chairmanship of Speaker of the Shura Council H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim.
In this context, the Speaker of Shura Council praised the advanced infrastructure accomplished over the past years thanks to the attention and directives of the wise leadership which spared no effort in ensuring the availability of a solid infrastructure that serves all aspects of life.
He pointed out that the Shura Council is aware of what everyone has suffered from in recent years due to unprecedented amounts of rain and the losses it caused.
Based on the Council’s keenness on addressing such issues, this issue was studied and discussed extensively based on the council’s commitment to working side by side with the relevant authorities to find effective and sustainable solutions to these negatives, he said.
He added that they seek to support the efforts of these entities to enhance and improve the infrastructure to confront the challenges of climate fluctuations and achieve safety and security for all citizens and residents.
The Council heard the report of the Services and the Public Utilities Committee regarding the rainwater drainage network and its findings after several meetings with representatives of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal).
The committee’s report pointed to a number of reasons for the accumulation of rainwater in some locations, including the blockage of the network or the failure of any part of it, and the lack of a rainwater drainage network in some areas since what has been accomplished of the network does not exceed 28 percent of the plan.
The proposal outlined the Council’s views to address the problem, the most important of which is doubling rainwater withdrawal pumps and water withdrawal tanks, especially in areas where rainwater accumulates, such as tunnels, in addition to developing and activating the governance of procedures used to receive warnings and quickly taking action by all concerned parties, when weather conditions worsen to avoid any losses that may result from the accumulation of rainwater.
The proposal also included a call to review maintenance plans for infrastructure projects to ensure its effectiveness and to continue and accelerate the construction of water drainage networks in all parts of the country.
