ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Sunday 13 October 2013 8 Dhul-Hijja 1434 - Volume 18 Number 5851 Price: QR2 China is Qatar eye world’s top points in key crude importer match Business | 17 Sport | 28 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Up in smoke US Senators Long queues seek deal to end shutdown WASHINGTON: With House at Abu Samra Republicans blaming President Barack Obama for the collapse of talks on extending US bor- rowing authority, the Senate scrambled yesterday to piece border post together a bipartisan exit strategy. The eyes of the world are glued Authorities try to clear rush on Washington as politicians grapple with how to open the DOHA: Abu Samra checkpost and customs services,” the Colonel shuttered government and avoid on the Qatari-Saudi border is said on the Facebook account of a potentially calamitous failure working at full capacity as a the Ministry of Interior. to pay the country’s obligations huge number of people leave Abu Samra, it may be noted, is for the first time in history, a sce- and enter Qatar ahead of the the only land border check post nario experts warn would send long Eid Al Adha holidays. All of Qatar. shockwaves through international 14 counters at the border post He said passengers are being markets. are busy clearing long queues, provided immigration and cus- With just three working according to a senior official. toms services while they are days next week before the US Such is the traffic situa- seated in their cars. There is no Treasury’s October 17 dead- tion that on October 10 and 11 need for them to step out. “We are line for raising the debt ceiling, more than 45,000 people passed making all these services available the Senate’s Republican and through the post. Of them, 15,500 for the comfort of passengers.” Democratic leaders showed an entered Qatar, while some 30,000 However, to avail of swift serv- intensifying desire to end the left, many of them apparently for ices, people should make sure they two-week government shutdown Haj and the others to visit their have valid passport, residency and ease the threat of default. home countries. permit and the papers of their Bahraini protesters clash with riot police following the funeral of Yussef Al Nashmi, who died in hospital on AFP Many expatriates from coun- vehicle, he said. Friday after being detained by Bahraini authorities since August 17, in the western Manama suburb of Jidd See also page 11 tries like Egypt, Jordan and Those visiting a country Hafs, yesterday. Lebanon prefer to travel to their and needing entry visas must home countries by road. make sure they have valid visas Of those who have entered as well. Qatar, many are apparently visi- According to the official, on tors from other GCC states who October 10 and 11, some 15,677 want to be here to enjoy the holi- people entered Qatar and 29,879 Qatar to hire workers from 30 countries day. Those entering and leaving, left the country. however, also include the regular “Abu Samra Border Post wel- DOHA: Qatar has signed companies to set up exclusive said the Minister. On the role of and entertainment facilities traffic of truck drivers bringing comes all guests of Qatar,” he agreements with 30 countries to commercial and entertainment the Ministry of Labour in solving address the needs of diverse com- in food and other imports from said. recruit foreign workers for the facilities for the growing number problems faced by expatriate work- munities and the migrant work- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, The colonel said the staffers massive infrastructure projects of expatriate workers in the ers, the Minister said that there force in the country. Lebanon and Egypt. at the border post are regularly in the country, the Minister country. are separate departments at the Mana Ibrahim Al Mana, chair- The head of the border post, trained so that they can deal with of Labour and Social Affairs “We want to bring in work- Ministry to carry out inspections man of Qatar Asset Management Colonel Nasser bin Abdullah people from different nationalities H E Abdullah Saleh Mubarak ers from different manpower- at worksites and labour camps, that manages West End Park, said Al Thani, said since all the 14 in a friendly manner. Al Khulaifi has said. exporting countries especially follow up on labour issues and there is a parallel project expected counters are operating traffic There is no congestion on Speaking to the media with the huge investments that resolve disputes between workers to be completed next year, to build clearance is swift. the border post due to the effi- after opening the Grand Mall the state intends to pump into a and employers, in line with the a housing complex for workers as “The post is working at full cient immigration and cus- Hypermarket at West End large number of infrastructure Qatari labour law. Commenting well as families for accommodat- potential. All the 14 counters are toms services, he added. Park in Mesaimeer on Friday, projects over the next decade, on the West End Park project, the ing about 70,000 people. working to provide immigration THE PENINSULA the Minister called on private that will cost billions of dollars,” Minister said that such commercial THE PENINSULA Underwater feat Qatar-based Sports Village set Indians in ‘powerful list’ to open in Katara DOHA: At least half a dozen- DOHA: An exclusive “sports in the premises and smoking is Doha based Indians have fea- village” will open in Katara on prohibited. Katara also has plans tured in the Arabian Business’ the first day of Eid Al Adha. to open commercial complexes in “100 most powerful Indians in The facility is located at the the near future. the Gulf” list 2012. Amusement City in Katara and Katara recently unveiled its Yusuf Ali, Chief of the EMKE is spread over 60,000 square five-year strategy which has its Group that owns the Lulu chain metre, Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al focus on the new generation “to of hypermarkets, including five in Sulaiti, director general of Katara give them the best opportunity Qatar, has topped the list for the Cultural Village said at a press to show their creativity,” in all second successive year. conference yesterday. areas. There are new partner- Indian-born academic and The sports village will offer ships with Unesco, Kennedy Executive Chairman of Qatar about 29 games with play areas Art Centre in Washington and Science and Technology Park for paintball, football, basketball the Qatar Foundation to benefit (QSTP), Dr Tidu Maini, is one of and tennis. from their experience in organis- the most prominent persons in The village has been designed ing educational programmers and the 2012 Power List. to entertain children, youngsters, projects targetting the youth in Joy Alukkas and P Mohammed elders and family members of high school and university. all ages. “Katara aims to develop The project for budding writers Ali, based in Dubai and Oman the thinking and culture of the has made an impact in schools in respectively, who have operations people and the sports village will the United States. in Qatar, also found their place in focus on promoting physical fit- Started nine years ago in only the 2012 list. ness that will reflect positively on four schools, it has now expanded Shashank Srivastava, CEO and Amateur triathletes wait for the start of the 3.86 km swim portion during the Ironman World Championship people’s thinking,” said Al Sulaiti. to more than 25 schools around Board Member of QFC Authority, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, yesterday. He said the project was part of the US. THE PENINSULA and Dr R Seetharaman, Group was futuristic strategy of Katara Picture on page 2 CEO, Doha Bank, are among that will bring in major changes other prominent Indians in the in the coming months. list. C K Menon, Ranjeev Menon Dr Malika Ashraim, public Cyclone tears into India’s east coast and Hassan Chougle are other relations officer at Katara sports Doha-based Indians on the maga- village said it has a wide range of ICHAPURAM/ weakening as it moves inland in daybreak today. Some 12 million zine’s power roll. entertainment facilities catering BHUBANESWAR: A fierce the states of Odisha and Andhra people were in the path of Phailin, C K Menon oversees the opera- to people of different age groups cyclone tore into India’s coast, Pradesh. The storm snapped trees weather and disaster manage- tions of the Qatari conglomerate, ranging from five to 80 years. killing at least five people, forc- and electricity poles and smashed ment officials said. It was India’s Behzad Group, which operates The village will be open from ing half a million into shelters windows in Brahmapur, a town strongest cyclone since a typhoon across a wide range of businesses Tuesday to Sunday every week INSIDE and threatening to devastate where it hit land last evening. killed 10,000 people in the same including transportation and steel from 4pm to 10pm. farmland and fishing hamlets. Rescue workers and soldiers region 14 years ago. Aid agencies manufacturing and has opera- Tickets are priced at QR50, Schedule of Cyclone Phailin was expected spread out across the region in hope better preparation will mean tions all over the Gulf, as well as QR90 and QR120, depending on to remain a “very severe cyclonic helicopters and trucks and the far fewer casualties this time. in Europe, South America and the type and number of games Eid events storm”, packing winds of up to full extent of destruction was only REUTERS the US.