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FRIDAY 31 JULY 2015 • 15 Shawwal 1436 • Volume 20 Number 6508 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Underground water Labour camp gutted in Al Sailiyah ‘floods’ key projects Ashghal to set up dewatering station next year BY SATISH KANADY tunnels, only one of them was a mega pilot plant for the dewa- reportedly affected by ‘flooding’. tering of swelling groundwater and DOHA: Qatar’s rising water The construction works of res- subsurface water in the country. table and sea water intru- idential complexes in some areas Ashghal has plans to set up a new sion are posing problems for of Doha are also reportedly being groundwater dewatering station in the country’s infrastructure hit after the contractors encoun- southern part of Doha next year. projects in some areas. tered subsurface water flow. The works of the plant would be Large-scale development, leaks “The issue poses technical completed in six different phases from older infrastructure and sea challenges and greatly increases within five years, Al Sharq reported. water intrusion have resulted in the risk of polluting the sea and The plant will be equipped a rising water table under much groundwater as construction with a state-of-the-art water of Doha. This issue has already projects pump water from sites,” treatment system with a capac- reached a critical state in some said Professor Patrick Linke, ity of handling 12.5 megalitres areas of Qatar. chair of chemical engineering at of groundwater and subsurface Qatar Rail recently admitted it Texas A&M University Qatar, water collected covering area 4.5 was forced to halt the tunneling while participating in a discussion hectares. The project will have works of Doha Metro’s Red Line on Qatar’s groundwater issues. both traditional facility for the due to ‘flooding’. The contractors In an initiative to improve purification of five megalitres as said their boring machine suf- the standards and procedures well a reverse osmosis plant with fered damage after the red Line’s of groundwater dewatering on a capacity of five megalitres. North tunnel got flooded. construction sites across Qatar, The company involved in the Qatar Rail, without elabo- the Public Works Authority construction of the project will rating on the issue, said that (Ashghal) is working to address augment the existing pumping the flooding hit its “pilot tun- the issue. Recently it released a station in the area, enabling it neling operations.” However, it list of contractors that were qual- to pump out an extra volume of added that the flooding will not ified through a prequalification groundwater and surface water to People walking away with their belongings after their labour camp was gutted by a major fire at Al Sailiyah have any significant impact on process to work on groundwater the treatment reservoir. in Industrial Area yesterday. The fire broke out between 1pm and 2.45pm. The Civil Defence responded Continued on page 3 its original project. The Red dewatering on construction sites. immediately to the situation and brought the fire under control. No casualties were reported. The cause of Line North consists of two twin Ashghal is also working to launch THE PENINSULA blaze could not be immediately ascertained. See also page 2 (ABDUL BASIT) Shalaa wins Qatar Richmond Stakes US approves sale of $5.4bn Kuwait breaks up new IS cell missiles to Saudi Arabia KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait has broken up a new five-member cell of alleged members of the WASHINGTON: The US State Air Defence Force,” Lockheed Salman visited Cairo yesterday and Islamic State jihadist group one Department has approved the said in a statement. signed the “Cairo Declaration”, also month after a deadly bombing possible sale to Saudi Arabia of The company said the PAC-3 attending a military parade with at a Shia mosque, the interior $5.4bn in additional PAC-3 mis- missile defends against incoming President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. ministry said yesterday. siles built by Lockheed Martin aircraft and missiles, and it is cur- “The two sides stressed the need Authorities arrested four men Corp, the Pentagon said late on rently used by the United States, to exert all efforts to boost secu- while the fifth was killed in a “ter- Wednesday. the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, rity and stability in the region, and rorist” operation in Iraq, the min- The Defence Security Taiwan and the UAE. to work together to protect Arab istry said. All the members are Cooperation Agency said the sale The State Department also national security,” Sisi’s office said thought to be Kuwaiti nationals. would benefit a key US partner approved a possible sale to Saudi after the signing. Four cell members have allegedly Frankie Dettori rides Shalaa to victory in the Qatar Richmond Stakes in the Middle East. Notification Arabia of $500m worth of ammuni- Egypt has backed Riyadh’s air taken part in fighting in Iraq, race at Goodwood Racecourse yesterday. Full report on page 22 to Congress was sent on Tuesday tion. A State Department spokes- campaign against Shia rebels in including the member who was and follows a major nuclear man said that proposed sale would Yemen, regularly saying it shares killed, while another “facilitated deal with Iran. The missile sale resupply the Royal Saudi Land a common vision with Riyadh on and supported their travel to Iraq approval could help reassure Forces to continue protecting the tackling the crisis there. to take part in terrorist opera- Saudi Arabia about the US com- country’s southern border from The new Cairo-Riyadh pact also tions,” the ministry said. mitment to its security. attacks by militia groups. backs building a new joint Arab The statement said “the ter- MH370 enigma swirls; “Lockheed Martin is support- Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and military force to fight terrorism rorists have confessed to undergo- ing the US government and the Egypt signed a pact in Cairo aimed in the region. On August 27, Arab ing... advanced training on the use kingdom of Saudi Arabia as they at boosting military and economic defence and foreign ministers are of arms and took part in fighting discuss the potential sale of addi- ties between the two Arab allies. to gather in Cairo to discuss the in Iraq and Syria,” where IS con- debris to be probed tional PAC-3 Missiles as part of A Saudi delegation led by Deputy modalities of the force. trols vast areas. All the suspects the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin AGENCIES were born between 1982 and 1990. SAINT-ANDRÉ, FRANCE: ocean currents could have carried The case has been referred to the Plane wreckage washed up on a piece of debris from the plane public prosecution for legal action, a tiny Indian Ocean island will to the island. the ministry said without stating be sent to France for investi- As Malaysian investigators Corniche boat clean-up campaign when the arrests were made. AFP gation, as hopes mounted yes- rushed to the scene, authorities terday the mysterious object prepared to send the object to could unlock the riddle of France for further examination. Verdict delay missing flight MH370. Meanwhile, a French military Several experts were convinced helicopter slowly circled the area irks Al Jazeera the debris was a flaperon from above the island where the debris the wing of a Boeing 777, which if washed up on a rocky beach. DOHA/CAIRO: An Egyptian proven meant it almost certainly Malaysian Prime Minister Najib court postponed yesterday its belonged to the Malaysia Airlines Razak said the wreckage found on verdict in the retrial of three plane whose disappearance 16 the French island of La Reunion Al Jazeera journalists, in a case months ago sparked one of avia- was “very likely” from a Boeing that has sparked a global outcry. tion’s greatest mysteries. 777, but it remained to be seen if it Australian Peter Greste, The six-foot long piece of wreck- indeed came from MH370. Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and age washed up on a rocky beach on The recovered object is expected Egyptian Baher Mohamed were the French island of La Reunion, to be flown out of Reunion island jailed last year for “spreading some 4,000km from the area where to France today for analysis. It is false news” during their coverage flight MH370 was thought to have likely to be sent to a testing site of the turmoil. The ruling is now gone down in March last year with near Toulouse tomorrow, a second expected on August 2. 239 people on board. source close to the inquiry said. Al Jazeera Media Network’s Aviation expert Xavier However as expectations Acting Director-General Mostefa Tytelman said he and other spe- mounted over the find, authori- Souag said: “We are outraged that cialists had compared the debris ties warned against jumping to the verdict has been adjourned. to hundreds of photos and plane conclusions. For relatives of those We demand the Egyptian blueprints, and found only one aboard, torn between wanting authorities bring an end to the possible match: The flaperon closure and believing their loved Workers removing boats and cruisers anchored at the Corniche for a long time and abandoned by the owners charges against Baher, Peter which is a mobile part on the edge ones were still somehow alive, the as part of a clean-up campaign.