DOHA - The shortage of washed sand which Qatar's booming construction industry has been battling for quite some time, will be over this week.
This was announced by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture HE Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani at a meeting with the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) members late last week.
The minister visited the Chamber on Wednesday evening and discussed the woes the building industry has been facing.
The minister also pointed out that plots of land in the Industrial Area will soon begin to be allotted to businessmen-applicants.
He was reacting after the QCCI Chairman, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem Al Thani raised the issue of the sand shortage and allotment of plots in the Industrial Area. The chairman was, in fact, very critical in his remarks. "Why is it that we have only one plant in the whole country which processes sand for use in the building industry," he said.
"This is unfortunate, especially since there is so much demand for sand due to the construction boom."
He also pointed to the fact that due to the shortage, one truckload of washed or processed sand, was costing something like QR5,000, which is an exorbitant price to pay for this cheap construction material.
The municipal affairs and agriculture ministry should immediately act to end the crisis and earmark areas out of Doha where the private sector can set up sand processing plants, said Sheikh Khalifa. "If nothing, private players should be permitted to set up plants and held end the shortage on their own."
Raising the issue of allotment of plots of land in the Industrial Area, he said that it was a matter of great concern that the official committee responsible for deciding the allotment has no representation from the QCCI.
"We being the representative body of the country's private sector should be the main beneficiary of the land allotment process, but sadly, we have no representation in this committee," he rued.
The plots should be allotted to actual users, but one sees that there are a number of plots which have already been allotted and they are lying idle, said the chairman.
Responding to the issues, the Minister, HE Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani, said that as for washed sand, the crisis will be over by this week and plot allotment will soon begin.
© The Peninsula 2007
