No Darb Al Saai activities this year
A permanent venue at Umm Salal Mohammed being readied for Darb Al Saai activities from next year
THE Organising Committee of the Qatar National Day (QND) celebrations has announced that the Darb Al Saai activities will not be held this year. Instead, various activities will be organised at different places across the country to celebrate the Qatar National Day (QND).
The Organising Committee also revealed that a permanent place is getting ready for Darb Al Saai, in coordination with the Special Engineering Office, in Umm Salal Mohammed and from next year, 2022, the activities will be held there.
Minister of Culture and Sports HE Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali on Saturday said it was decided not to hold Darb Al Saai events this year in the usual location.
“It will be replaced by a set of activities and events distributed in several regions of the country,” he said, adding that a permanent headquarters for Darb Al Saai has been identified in Umm Salal Mohammad, starting next year.
He stressed on the organisation of events and activities in various regions of the country as an alternative to Darb Al Saai, thanking the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) for its great efforts in combating coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Citing reasons for not holding Darb Al Saai activities this year, the minister said, “It could have been held this year, but we did not want to take risk in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, so we decided to celebrate it next year in the new location at Umm Salal.”
He said, “There will be different activities distributed in several regions of the country, and there will be communication with the public.”
When asked about moving the site of the National parade out of the Corniche in light of the work of the Public Works Authority and the authorities within the preparations to host the 2021 Arab Cup and the 2022 World Cup, he said, “The National parade was born on the Corniche and will continue to be on the Corniche, God willing.”
Ahmed Al Ajmi, Director of Events Department at Qatar Center for Cultural and Heritage Events, said, “During the coming period, a set of public activities and events will be revealed that will be an alternative to Darb Al Saai activities.”
It could have been held this year, but we did not want to take risk in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, so we decided to celebrate it next year, in the new location at Umm Salal.” — HE Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali