ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER 5 October 2013 29 Dhul-qa’da 1434 - Volume 18 Number 5843 Price: QR2 ON SATURDAY FIFA delays Qatar World Cup decision ZURICH: FIFA has launched a con- sultation process to decide whether to move the 2022 World Cup in Qatar away from the traditional June-July slot and will not make a decision until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which finishes in July, at the earliest, President Sepp Blatter said yesterday. He said there was no question of stag- ing the tournament elsewhere. “The 2022 World Cup will be played in Qatar. There you are,” he told a news conference after a meeting. Blatter said all stakeholders would be involved in the consultation. “They include the players, the clubs, the leagues, the national federations, the confederations and FIFA, but it doesn’t only include sports. There are other partners, economic ones, be they from marketing, the media or television. “We also need to bear in mind our obliga- tions towards these partners, so we need to carry out very deep consultation and pay a great detail of attention and show some diplomacy and wisdom.” Qataris urged to provide travel details DOHA: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a tweet has urged all Qataris to report to it while travelling overseas so they could be reached in emergency. It has also provided on its Twitter POPULATION account a link (eservices.mofa.gov.qa/ Wirestorm/Pag….), which contains form for online registration. The form includes personal data, infor- mation about the travel, destination and communication addresses, means of trans- portation and people accompanied during travel. Saudi reports six new MERS cases PRESSURE GENEVA: Saudi Arabia confirmed six new MERS cases, taking the global number of infections with the deadly virus to 136, World Health Organisation THE ISSUE said yesterday. Glenn Thomas, spokesman for the UN Abraham Augusthy Abraham health agency, said it had been informed by More than 200,000 newly- growth”. “So to build these facilities you would Saudi authorities that the virus had been Design: Design: recruited foreign workers have Existing schools and hospitals have out- need to get more workers and the popula- detected in three men and three women lived their capacities. They just don’t have tion keeps going up.” in Riyadh. arrived in the country this year, space and the means to handle extra pres- Some 80 percent of the newly-recruited The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome taking the total population beyond sure. “This is just one example.” workers are coming for specific projects. coronavirus, which appeared first in the the two million mark. Interestingly, it appears the country’s But not all could be expected to go back kingdom last year, has killed 58 people planning officials were also not ready to han- when the projects are over, as some would worldwide, 49 of them in the country, dle such a heavy influx of foreign workers, as be shifted to new projects. according to official Saudi figures and is evidenced from the population growth tar- The remaining 20 percent workers are WHO. atar’s population was 1.83 million gets envisioned in the National Development professionals and include doctors, char- by 2012-end, having surged in the Strategy (2011-16). tered accountants, technicians and teachers, Four killed in clashes past nine months by over 200,000, The NDS noted in its document that mod- among others, said Al Muslemani. Qto 2.035 million by September 30 est increases in population will accompany “They are the ones Qatar would be needing during Egypt protests this year. the expected economic expansion (between over the long term, so they would stay on.” The rate of growth has been in double 2011 and 2016). A major problem, according to Al CAIRO: At least four people died in digits — more than 10 percent — having The NDS, thus, forecasts the population at Muslemani, is housing, particularly for clashes yesterday as supporters of far-reaching implications on the country’s less than 1.9 million by 2016 — which means people in lower-middle and middle-income deposed president Mohammed Mursi limited resources. that there has been an unplanned increase brackets. mounted their boldest marches since “One of the outcomes of the current popu- three years before the target year. There is a shortage of housing for these troops crushed their protest camps lation explosion has been that we need nearly “The influx isn’t going to cease. It contin- categories of people, and soaring demand is demanding his reinstatement on August 200 new private schools and at least 20 new ues in a vicious circle,” said Al Muslemani. already pushing rents up. 14. PAGEhospitals,” says Khalifa 6 Al Muslemani. The thing is, as the population increases, “What we, therefore, need is to build large The army fired live rounds in the direc- Al Muslemani, a celebrated real estate driven by a heavier influx of foreign workers housing stocks outside of Doha, and for that tion of Brotherhood supporters who had investor and analyst, told The Peninsula yes- for the mega development projects linked to the government must develop and provide been pushed back by forces when they tried terday: “We were actually expecting such the 2022 FIFA event, more houses, schools land.” to enter Cairo’s Tahrir Square. a population growth. This is extraordinary and hospitals would be needed. Continued on page 2 Full report on page 8 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 OCTOBER 5, 2013 ON SATURDAY 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Home Preparing for a boom Residents must gear up to face the consequences of a population surge BY AZMAT HAROON POPULATION OF hile the average population growth rate in the world is QATAR Wtwo to three per- cent, the population of Qatar has increased by an alarm- ing 10.3 percent in the past one year. Although the growth rate dropped to 1.14 percent in 2010 and was only 2.23 percent in 2012, the figure went up this year due to a huge influx of migrant workers. The current rise in population picked up in late 2012, when it began increasing at an average rate of 8.4 percent. The migrant workers, as we 2,035,106 know, are arriving in the country Khalifa Al Muslemani Basheer Yusuf Al Kahlout for a number of major infrastruc- ture development projects, which take a toll on Qatar’s social and on the roads and long queues at PERSONS include the Qatar rail and metro economic infrastructure, which several service facilities (includ- projects. is currently not in a position to ing key government services like Regional surveys reveal that accommodate so many people. immigration). over 60 percent of Qatari compa- The current figures indicate “Many problems could arise. nies have already gone on a hiring that by 2015, the population of the As it is the infrastructure facili- spree and are recruiting foreign- country may cross the 2.5-million ties are under stress, which ers holding engineering, business mark. include the roads, electricity and management and administration Pointing to a number of issues water supply, as well as the health degrees. due to increasing population, Al and education sectors.” Engineers, business manage- Kahlout said that the existing This will also reflect negatively ment and administration pro- infrastructure facilities would be on the productivity of the people fessionals are in great demand. under “enormous stress”, which in general as they will spend more 1,509,211 However, the majority of migrant will not be limited to traffic jams time stuck in traffic jams and workers include semi-skilled con- crowded areas, with no alterna- struction hands. tive in sight. The rate of accidents MALE The number of such workers “Many problems and the spread of different kinds is expected to grow as days go by could arise. As it is the of diseases cannot be overlooked and as new development projects infrastructure facilities in such a scenario. are launched. “Pressure on existing facili- A popular financial analyst and are under stress, which ties will lead to an expenditure columnist, Basheer Al Kahlout, include the roads, of billions of riyals on expansion argues that the current “abnor- and construction of new facilities, mal” rate of population growth electricity and water which will reflect on the govern- will have a number of negative supply, as well as the ment budget.” implications on the social and health and education Al Kahlout said that the gov- economic fabric of the country. sectors.” ernment would not have had to 525,895 “This extraordinary increase in spend that much if the demo- population is because of the on- graphics of the country were going as well as upcoming infra- changing at a normal pace. FEMALE structure and gas projects, which “For instance, if the rate of means that hundreds and thou- population increase was below sands of workers will come to live four percent on average, then the These data represent the number of persons of all ages (Qataris in Qatar very soon,” Kahlout said. population would be less than two and non-Qataris) within the boundaries of the State of Qatar as on He said that such a high rate million by 2016. That would be a 30/9/2013. They do not include: of population increase will clearly normal growth rate for Qatar.” • Qatari nationals who were outside the state’s boundaries on The financial analyst and col- 30/9/2013. umnist also suspects that if the • Non-Qataris with residency permits who were outside the state’s prices of oil drop, it will reflect boundaries on 30/9/2013.