Shura discusses ways to protect environment
THE Shura Council on Monday reviewed the report of the Public Services and Utilities Committee following a request for general discussion submitted by a number of members on violations committed by some individuals and companies and their impact on wildlife.
The Shura Council, chaired by Speaker HE Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanim, hailed the efforts made by the esteemed government, in pursuit of Qatar National Vision 2030, highlighting its strategies to protect the local environment and achieve sustainable development.
The Council affirmed its keenness to ensure the continued protection of the environment as the main component of the culture and history of the Qatari people, stressing the need to achieve a balance between environmental, economic, social and human development to ensure a sustainable future for Qatar.
It noted that the responsibility to preserve the environment requires unremitting efforts and cooperation among all public and private agencies and sectors of the state.
Having discussed the findings of the report and presented solutions to protect the environment, the Shura Council decided to submit a proposal to the esteemed government on the aforementioned subject.
The proposal covered a number of suggestions that would contribute to reducing encroachments and providing the necessary protection for environment, including the formation of a coordinating committee to achieve cooperation between all relevant official authorities, enhance control over violations, ensure the preservation of the environment, dispose of polluting waste in appropriate ways, monitor violations at the highest levels, and follow up on what may result from industrial and medical violations.
The proposal also links the inspectors’ bonuses and financial incentives to the violations detected. It also seeks to provide nationwide landfills for construction, demolition and excavation waste, and large containers for agricultural waste, specially near farms, in addition to cooperating with the private sector in increasing recycling companies to get rid of these waste, and intensifying checkpoints around the clock at the entrances and exits of some areas, especially those where waste is repeatedly thrown.
The proposal pointed to the need to spread the culture of preserving environment and reducing pollution through guidelines and media awareness. Over a series of meetings, the Public Services and Utilities Committee hosted specialists and stakeholders from the Ministries of Municipality and Environment and Climate Change, to listen to their views on environmental violations and the efforts made by the two ministries to reduce them.
During the meeting, the Shura Council also reviewed a draft law amending some provisions of Law No 29 of 2006 regarding building control, which was referred to the Council by the government.
The Shura Council decided the draft law to be referred to the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee to scrutinize and issue a report regarding it. The session also reviewed a proposal on Qatar’s cultural heritage project associated with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 hosting, to preserve the gains achieved from this hosting, and build on it to achieve more in the future.
This project aims to contribute to strengthening the Qatari identity, consolidating the gains made to inspire current and future generations, documenting the legacy of Qatar’s hosting of the tournament, and introducing this legacy in various languages to the world.
The proposal included inviting all governmental and private state institutions and individuals to participate in this project, and it also included a number of programs.
After discussing the proposal and exchanging views on it, the Council decided to submit a proposal for the government on the aforementioned subject. The Council also reviewed the report of Shura Council Member Ahmed bin Ebrahim Al Malki’s participation in a virtual parliamentary meeting organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in January that investigated if hybrid working will become the ‘new normal’ for parliaments.
While reviewing the report, Ahmed bin Ebrahim Al Malki said that the meeting discussed how hybrid work affects the legislative and oversight functions of parliaments, and to what extent this type of work can make parliaments more modern and takes gender differences into account, and how to ensure the parliament would withstand future emergencies.