www.thepeninsulaqatar.com BUSINESSBUS | 21 SPORT | 29 ReRenaultn opens Stage set first China for cycling factory extravaganza TUESDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2016 • 23 Rabia II 1437 • Volume 20 • Number 6694 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar Message from UAE Job loss fears Advisory Council among Filipino engineers urges govt to baseless: Official develop villages By Raynald C Rivera DOHA: A Filipino official has allayed fears over reports that thousands of Filipino engineers The Council is of the view that and architects might lose their Move to stem these inhabitants be not only given jobs for not meeting the deadline ownership documents of the land to comply with requirements of migration to they are occupying but their chil- Qatar’s Urban Planning and Devel- congested cities and dren be allotted plots to encourage opment Authority (UPDA). them to continue to live there. Patricia B Licuanan, Chairper- towns Council members argue that son of the Commission on Higher people living in villages have been Education (CHED) of the Philip- doing so for a long time and brav- Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday pines said yesterday: “There is no ing all kinds of challenges and received a written message from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the United Arab real crisis. People are not about to The Peninsula odds in the absence of basic needs Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan. UAE Ambassador to Qatar, Saleh bin Mohammed Al lose their jobs.” like water and electricity and their Licuanan along with Profes- Amri, delivered the message on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest to the Prime Minister. ancestors have undergone immense sional Regulation Commission sufferings. (PRC) acting chairperson Ange- DOHA: The Advisory Council has The Council members, there- line T Chua Chiaco yesterday urged the government to develop the fore, want basic infrastructure like concluded their visit to Qatar dur- country’s rural areas and provide road, sewage, water and electric- ing which they met with officials needed infrastructure and services. ity networks as well as schools and of UPDA and Qatar’s Minister of This is to be done to make sure primary healthcare centres and No Zika case in Qatar: Ministry Education and Higher Education. that the people living there do not shopping complexes to be built in “The purpose of our visit was feel the need to migrate to congested these remote areas as part of an primarily to pursue possible meas- urban centres. extensive rural development plan. ures to help Filipino professionals, The villages, once fully The Council has been discuss- The Peninsula expatriates to postpone non-essen- pants, socks, and tents). Travellers specifically engineers and archi- developed, could also provide ing this proposal for a long time tial trips to the 24 affected countries. must sleep in screened-in or air-con- tects, who are now required to opportunities to locals to build and its services committee has held The advisory applies especially to ditioned rooms. register with the UPDA and we homes for living and renting out. three meetings to debate the issue pregnant women who are more vul- The ministry said that it is work- wanted to explore ways of coun- At its regular weekly meeting at length. After this, it has come out DOHA: The Ministry of Public Health nerable to the virus. ing closely with the WHO EMRO teracting the downgrading of our yesterday, the Council decided to with concrete proposals. said yesterday that no case of Zika Women who plan to become office to ensure that all needed steps Bachelor’s degree to a diploma.” recommend to the Cabinet plans to When the Council initially made virus has been detected in the coun- pregnant in the near future have also are taken. All expatriate engineers and develop the villages in the country’s this proposal to the government, the try till now. However, the health been advised to delay their travel to Zika virus infection is a mild architects are required to register interior. then Minister of Municipality and sector has been alerted to be ready to affected areas. febrile viral illness transmitted to with UPDA which issues equiva- One of the key recommendations Urban Planning was invited to one deal with any suspected case among Zika virus is transmitted by mos- people through the bite of an infected lency certificates to enable them of the Council is that those who have of its sessions to shed light on the travellers retuning from affected quitoes mostly active during daytime. mosquito from the Aedes genus, to legally practise their profession. been living in the remote villages be issue. countries. It’s important that all travellers vis- mainly Aedes aegypti in tropical During the implementation of given land ownership documents. The then minister (H E Sheikh The Aedes aegypti mosquito that iting affected areas continue to take regions. The most common symptoms the law, however, it was discovered This would help clear legal hin- Abdulrahman bin Khalifa Al Thani) transmits the virus is not present in protective measures to prevent mos- of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or that the Philippine basic educa- drances in the way of developing had said that the government had Qatar. Further studies are however quito bites through the day. conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other com- tion system is two year short of the Qatari villages. actually made a lot of progress in its going on, said the ministry. The precautions include wear- mon symptoms of the infection that regular cycle, hence the Bachelor’s In the good old days, there was rural development plans and even Although the World Health ing long-sleeve shirts and trousers, has drawn global headlines include degree was considered equivalent no system to register homes and made designs of some outer areas. Organisation (WHO) has not pro- using insect repellents and mosquito muscle pain and headache. to a diploma. farmhouses in the remote villages, posed any travel restrictions, the nets and wearing permethrin-treated so people have just been living there. → Continued on page 6 ministry has advised all citizens and clothing and gear (such as boots, → Continued on page 6 → Continued on page 6 Over 63,000 Push for presidency visited Britain New irrigation system from Qatar in saves half the water nine months The Peninsula technical team is currently devel- oping the scientific method of The Peninsula experiment to be implemented soon. DOHA: A new irrigation system has The pilot project tested the been accredited by the Department quantity of water used in the new DOHA: Over 63,000 visitors from of Public Parks at the Ministry of public realm guidelines and then Qatar visited UK between January Municipality and Environment after the quantity specified by the tech- and September 2015, of which 46 being tested for over 15 months. It nical committee of the public parks percent were Qataris, a top official uses half the water traditional irri- for (park) irrigation showed differ- of ‘VisitBritain’ campaign has said. gation systems consume. ences in the consumption levels by The numbers show a sharp The implementation of the 50 percent. jump of over 33 percent compared system took 15 months — from The technical team has devel- to the same period in the previous September 2014 to December 2015 — oped a daily monitoring system for year, said the official. the Ministry said in a press release follow-up of the plants, including Sumathi Ramanathan, yesterday. different types of trees, flowers and Regional General Manager (Asia- While saving 50 percent of other fauna to see their response to Pacific and Middle East) region, water, the new system helps in keep- the quantity of water used. The team said ‘visitor-spent’ for Qataris to ing the plants healthy and green documented that through the Cen- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines, the UK was £123m (about QR643m) while ensuring good level of growth, tral Irrigation System. for the first nine months of last Iowa, before the much anticipated state Iowa caucuses. US presidential candidates made a frenzied, said the press statement. The result was positive, and year, up about 19pc compared to final push to lock in Iowa voters on the eve of the first nominating contest of the 2016 election season. This new irrigation system is set accordingly the department has → See also page 19 the same period last year. to be proposed as the standard one accredited the system so that it can Qatar and UK have been for all government bodies that rely be used in the government’s green- working closely to deepen ties. on irrigation. The department also ery and beautification projects. According to the British Ambassa- pointed out that the standardisation The ministry said this outcome dor to Qatar, Ajay Sharma, Qatar’s and specifications related to con- will help expand green areas and investments in the UK touched struction will be amended, namely, plantations and will have a posi- about £30bn (over QR156bn), Israel-Palestine stalemate worries UN chief Chapter 28 regarding public parks. tive impact on the environment and which includes real estate, stakes Following the success of this combat desertification. in companies, hotels and hospi- project, the Department of Pub- The technical committee has tality sector. The bilateral trade Reuters reaching the point of no return for a published in the New York Times late lic Parks is planning to conduct recommended new designs for the value for 2015 stood at £5bn two-state solution. on Sunday. “Keeping another people experiments on current water con- irrigation networks and to increase (QR26.13bn).