12 wishes for 2012 Thursday, 29 December 2011 01:44

Year 2011 has been magnificent for Qatar, both internationally and locally. Events at home and in the region kept the world’s focus riveted on Qatar.

With the Arab Spring uprisings, Qatar emerged prominently as one of the first countries to back popular demand for reforms in various countries and actively support people’s movements as well as advocate joint Arab action. Locally, the announcement of the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani that parliamentary elections will finally take place in 2013 has been one of the surprising highlights of the year besides the many achievements of the country in terms of economic and social development and progress in the field of science and research.

There, however, remains a lot of things that the country was supposed to do this year that either are in the process of implementation or yet to take off in earnest.

With barely three days left of 2011, here are 12 wishes that we have for Qatar in the coming year:

Media law: For more than year now, we’ve been hearing about a new media law being ready for signing. The law, we hear, will encompass all media activities and information services and they will come under the purview of the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage. The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and the Advisory Council have studies and reviewed the provisions of the law. The announcement of the much-awaited media law has been put off long enough. We hope that it finally will see the light of day in 2012. We are apprehensive (based on what we hear), however, the new law might not come up the expectation of the people, given everybody is waiting for Qatar to finally have a free media at par with the country’s ambitions for reform and development.

Constitution court: Almost three years have passed since Law No 12 for the year 2008 was issued by the Emir for establishing the constitutional court and the appointment of the court’s chairman. It is yet to materialise.

Medical insurance: The growing population has overburdened the medical infrastructure in the country, which is dominated by public hospitals. The lack of medical insurance prevents people from seeking private healthcare service providers due to its high cost. The country needs to take action and put in place a national insurance system that would give the people more freedom to choose healthcare provider of their choice.

Children’s Hospital: Since the Asian Games, we’ve heard that HMC was going to establish Qatar’s first children’s hospital, employing the best international standards and practices in the field of paediatrics. It was scheduled to be operational by this year. We hope that 2012 will be year that this hospital is finally opened, especially when Qatar’s child population is growing fast.

Master plan for buildings and infrastructure: As Qatar prepares for the upcoming 2022 World Cup; a long-term comprehensive urban plan is needed in order to guide the country’s infrastructure growth. This will ensure the urban progress of the country is stable and reflects the variables of economic development.

Increasing social aid: Despite the country’s affluence, there are still some in our country that need help – the elderly, divorcees, widows, people with special needs and families in need. The government recently announced an increase in salaries of public employees and military personnel. Why not increase aid given to the less fortunate in the society?

Children of Qatari women married to non-Qataris: Qatar has always been dedicated to end discrimination against women. This can be seen especially in its Constitution which treats men and women as equals in rights and duties. However, current legislation makes it difficult for children of Qatari women married to non-Qatari men to attain citizenship. According to a report by the National Human Rights Committee, the situation for children born to Qatari mother and non-Qatari fathers are worse than orphans. The government needs to do more in easing up regulations governing this aspect so that the children can enjoy their rights as citizens.

Parallel stock market for SMEs: Diversifying the economy is one of the main priorities of the country. In May this year, it was announced that the government would set up a parallel or junior stock market affiliated to the main bourse which will provide the much-needed boost to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The implementation of this bourse will encourage SMEs to expand their business since they will be able to mobilise more capital and allow them to become more transparent in their accounting standards.

Retirement plan for Qataris working in the private sector: Despite many campaigns by the government to encourage Qataris to work in the private sector, many of them are still reluctant to do so. One of the main reasons is the lack of security because private sector employees are usually not covered by retirement or pension plans.

Non-profit organisations and civil society associations: Civil societies such as professional organisations and associations are important in any democratic and free society. The government should encourage the formation of such associations since they act as a representative body of the people. We call on the government to review the law governing associations because procedural difficulties in getting the go-ahead for and the high administrative costs discourage formation of such association. Doing so will encourage more associations to flourish and contribute to society.

Al Wakrah Hospital: With the construction completed by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Al Wakrah Hospital was handed over to HMC for its operations. This state-of-the-art healthcare facility would serve the Al Wakrah area and the neighbouring communities in the south of Doha and would help ease the influx of patients to Hamad Hospital in Doha. The construction of the hospital was started in May 2007. The hospital building is spread over 128,000 square metres within the 304,000 square-metre premises has 321 beds for inpatients. It was scheduled to be operational this year but it was postponed.

Proposed law for job nationalisation: In 2010, it was announced in the local papers that a proposed law on job nationalisation was in the offing in order to encourage both private and public sectors to hire locals. Those who do not adhere to law could face fines between QR50,000 to QR100,000.

The proposed law also suggested that a permanent committee for job nationalisation be set up to take policy decisions from time to time, aside from making sure that every agency concerned abides by the proposed law. We are waiting.

These are just some of the wishes that we hope will take shape in the coming 2012. These are but a few of the basic foundations needed in order to further strengthen the stability and security of our beloved country.

As we move to the coming year, we ask God to bless the safety and security of our government and the people living in Qatar.

The Peninsula