DOHA: Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday visited the 31st GCC Traffic Week at Darb Al Saie.
He toured stalls of various departments and organisations and talked to participants about their experience about traffic week.
The Premier was received by Brigadier Mohamed Saad Al Kharji, Director, Traffic Department, and Vice-Chairman of National Committee for Traffic Safety, and Lieutenant Mohamed Rad Al Hajiri, Director, Media Department and Traffic Awareness, Traffic Department.
The traffic week began on Sunday and ends today.
Earlier in the day, Brigadier Al Kharji said community participation is essential for promoting traffic safety.
Speaking at an event to honour sponsors of the week, he said community participation is the main reason for success of the Ministry of Interior.
He honoured delegations from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait and some 24 companies, institutions, departments and members of media. The traffic week has become a highly successful event due to participation of many government agencies, institutions, companies, associations and youth organisations, he said.
Brigadier Al Kharji said the ministry will continue to organise awareness campaigns and work towards increasing community participation to ensure safety of people and their properties.
The population has increased sharply in the past few years which has doubled the work of the Traffic Department, he added.
He praised the participation of the delegations from the GCC countries and said it reflected increased cooperation among GCC states.
The visit of traffic department delegations from these countries will increase experience of officials and other staff members and will make traffic much safer by reducing accidents in the GCC countries.
Lieutenant Al Hajiri said media has played a significant role in the success of the traffic week by spreading the message of traffic safety among the public.
He said everyone in Qatar can play a crucial role in reducing road accidents. Increasing population and the number of vehicles has posed a challenge for the Traffic Department.
Facing the challenge of accidents is the collective responsibility of society, he added.
To meet this challenge, the Traffic Department has intensified efforts by conducting more programmes to spread awareness about traffic rules to help reduce accidents and traffic violations.
The GCC delegations also visited the traffic accident section at Hamad General Hospital.
Events during the traffic week included workshop on safety and traffic signals and awareness lectures.The Peninsula
