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ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER 28 September 2013 22 Dhul-qa’da 1434 - Volume 18 Number 5836 Price: QR2 ON SATURDAY Obama, Rowhani hold historic phone call WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama spoke yesterday with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rowhani by telephone in the first talks between US and Iranian leaders since the 1979 Islamic revolution and Obama held out the prospect that crippling economic sanctions could be eased. Speaking at the White House shortly after the historic call, Obama said his discussion with Rowhani had shown the “basis for resolution” of the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme. The conversation, in which Obama commu- nicated his “unique respect for the Iranian people”, capped a week of diplomatic breakthroughs. Rowhani ended a five-day visit to New York for the UN General Assembly with an offer to work fast to defuse tensions with America, hailing the US as “a great nation”. See also page 5 UN Security Council to vote on Syria resolution UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council is set to adopt a resolution today on eradicating Syria’s chemical arsenal after Russia and the US overcame a bitter deadlock to avert US military action against President Bashar Al Assad’s government. Amid newfound unity of the veto-wielding council members — Russia, China, France, the US and Britain — French Foreign Minister CAUGHT IN A Laurent Fabius said he hoped a date would also be agreed for so-called Geneva 2 peace talks on Syria. The five members will meet Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and international Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. Diplomats said if a date was set for peace talks in Geneva, it would likely be November. See also page 8 IPCC alert over 30 years to climate calamity STOCKHOLM: The world’s leading climate scientists have set out in detail for the first time how much more carbon dioxide humans JAM can pour into the atmosphere without trig- gering dangerous levels of climate change — and concluded that more than half of that THE ISSUE global allowance has been used up. If people continue to emit greenhouse gases Salim Matramkot Pic: at current rates, the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere could mean that within two to There is hardly any street in into intersections, supported by the Intelligent The recent ban on driving licence for cer- three decades the world will face nearly inevi- Doha and its outskirts that does Traffic Systems. tain segments of expatriate workers is con- Abraham table warming of more than 2C, resulting in It was expected that once ready, the D-Ring sidered the first of stringent measures on the Design: rising sea levels, heatwaves, droughts and more not get jammed in peak hours. and Salwa underpasses would smoothen traffic anvil to address the issue, while authorities extreme weather. Congestions continue to test the in the city. But they have diverted bottlenecks have recommended parking fees in public This calculation of the world’ “carbon budget” patience of motorists, some of to exit roads. Complaints continue over conges- places and an increase in fuel prices as future is one of the most striking findings of the tions on the February 22 Street and many exit solutions. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change whom resort to rash driving while points on the newly opened Salwa highway face Most commercial and residential facilities (IPCC), which yesterday produced a compre- others overtake vehicles. Traffic a similar situation. remain concentrated in central Doha, contrib- hensive assessment of our knowledge of climate has become a major challenge for Traffic in central Doha and the Souq areas uting to daily traffic snarls in the area. change after their four-day meeting. has peaked after the summer holidays. Work There is hardly any room for further expan- authorities as it has also increased on the Corniche Street has diverted traffic to sion of roads and streets. Sudan death toll hits 50 road accidents. all parallel roads. Underpasses and subways have been con- A senior traffic official has hinted that work sidered as solutions but may complicate the as protests rage will be completed by the end of next month. situation if the population continues to grow uthorities have been working hard There cannot be a single solution to traf- at the current pace. KHARTOUM: Police fired tear gas yes- on solutions. A joint committee was fic problems in Qatar as about 100,000 new New districts are being developed on the terday to disperse thousands of Sudanese set up under the Traffic Department vehicles are on the roads every year and the outskirts of Doha but it may take time to see demanding that President Omar Hassan Aa few years ago to deal with traffic population is growing fast. an actual shift in population density. Al Bashir step down, a day after clashes in congestions. The Qatar National Bank, in a recent report, A robust public transport, including the which rights groups accused security forces It identified traffic hotspots across the coun- warned of more congestions on the roads, with proposed metro network, could be a lasting of shooting dead at least 50 people. try and suggested solutions, which are being the country witnessing a population growth solution. More than 5,000 people demonstrated after implemented one after the other. Many iconic ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. But its implementation entails renovations, Friday prayers in the biggest protest for many PAGEroundabouts in the 6city have been converted Promoting public transport and curtailing excavations and a lot of construction work years in Khartoum. Angered by a police crack- into intersections. private vehicles is an internationally accepted becoming a daily routine — and adding to traf- down on demonstrations against the slashing of Since traffic is chaotic on the Corniche road, solution to traffic congestions, parking short- fic woes on the streets in the city. fuel subsidies, about 3,000 took to the streets in work is in full swing to convert all roundabouts ages as well as noise and air pollution. See also page 2 Khartoum’s twin city Omdurman. See also page 5 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 ON SATURDAY 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Home Chaos on the roads Traffic congestion is getting worse, and worse, but who has the solutions? BY AZMAT HAROON street will reduce the concentra- currently lacks. tion of traffic in many areas,” Al Qatar’s traffic chaos can only raffic woes hit a new Kharji said on the popular Arabic- be resolved by boosting public peak in Qatar this year, language radio programme Good transport facilities. with many upset resi- Morning, My Beloved Country. Mowasalat, for instance, can Tdents arguing that they He said that nearly 200 traf- help by increasing the number have never experienced the kind fic patrol and security teams are and frequency of busses, while of rush they see on the roads now. monitoring traffic at the moment. authorities need to encourage Since the beginning of the new The department has also people to use buses, according to academic year last month, traffic deployed a helicopter that pro- the expert. jams have become a widespread vides details about traffic to One of the peculiarities of phenomenon. During peak hours, patrolling teams. The helicopter Doha traffic is that every time drivers complain about being makes rounds between 6am and the schools have holidays, conges- stuck in congestions for as long 8am to ease early morning con- tions on the roads drop. If most as three hours. gestions on the roads. Experts point out several con- Al Kharji said that the number tributing factors for the increas- of vehicles crossed 1m this year, ing congestions on the roads. One comparing the situation to 2005 of them is the population growth, when there were 250,000 vehicles which is expected to cross 2m by on the roads. the end of this year. He said that every developed Most Qatari childrendren don’t avail Some have also bitterly criti- country in the world goes through the bus service prprovidedovided bbyy cised the Public Works Authority problems related to traffic jams their schools. Manyany bbusesuses ooff (Ashghal) for digging too many and Qatar was no exception. roads at the same time, without Speaking on the condition of Independent schoolsools plyply considering the impact of con- anonymity, one traffic expert told almost empty in thethe morning.morning. struction work on traffic. The Peninsula that even if work According to a report released on the Corniche street winds up school-going children start avail- by Qatar National Bank (QNB) in November, there will be little ing school bus service, there may recently, Qatar’s population is change in traffic. be a decrease in traffic. projected to grow by an average “Every time the country goes “Most Qatari children don’t 10.5 percent annually over the through traffic problems, peo- avail the bus service provided Department next two years. This growth will ple start blaming the Traffic by their schools. Many buses of said trucks be driven by a huge influx of expa- Department. We are not the ones Independent schools ply almost and other triate workers who will be arriv- constructing roads.” empty in the morning,” he said, heavy vehicles ing for massive infrastructure He said there are serious prob- point out that people needed to can get per- projects ahead of the 2022 FIFA lems with the way roads are being work together to solve traffic mission from World Cup. built in many parts of the country. problems. the depart- The number of vehicles on the “A majority of areas have roads The driving schools have also ment to move streets has already exceeded 1m that have only two lanes.

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