www.thepeninsulaqatar.com BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 34 Dr Al Sada reaffirms Formula One hailsails a commitment to new young masterter iinn Qatarisation Verstappen TUESDAY 17 MAY 2016 • 10 SHA’BAAN 1437 • Volume 21 • Number 6799 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar Advisory Council FM attends meeting on Libya approves draft anti-tobacco law their derivatives, seized for violating the law, irrespective of the quantity. A fine not exceeding The court can also order closure QR3,000 has been of a shop violating the law for a period proposed for smoking not exceeding three months, and the or using tobacco decision must be published in two daily newspapers on the expense of products in closed the erring outlet. Five percent of the public places. customs fees on tobacco products will be allocated for health awareness pro- grammes. Importers of cigarettes and other tobacco products and their The Peninsula derivatives must inform the Ministry Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani participating in the ministerial meeting on Libya, held in Vienna yesterday. of Public Health in a written form at least one week before arrival of the The conference was co-chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni. → Report on page 6 shipment for checking whether they DOHA: The Advisory Council yester- fulfil the required specifications. day approved the draft anti-tobacco The draft law bans import of such law that stipulates stricter punish- products without a written permis- ment for smoking in closed public sion from the authorities concerned. places. The draft law has stipulated And the Minister of Public Health HIA serves record 8.8 million passengers strict measures to curb the import and will issue a decision on the permit- use of tobacco products and its deriva- ted quantity of nicotine in cigarettes. tives and a ban on electronic cigarettes, Each packet or box of cigarette and The Peninsula period for the airport since its open- HIA also had a significant and 141,815 tonnes in March. The air- “sweika” and other chewing tobacco. The other tobacco products must carry ing in May 2014, HIA said yesterday. increase in aircraft movements dur- port handled a total of 30.9 million Council in its weekly regular meeting yes- the expiry date and graphic warn- HIA saw 8,867,971 passengers ing the same period, at 58,288. This passengers from January to Decem- terday discussed a report of the Legal and ings about the harmful effects of using passing through its gates during represents a 8.6 per cent increase in ber last year ,1.4 million tonnes of cargo Legislative Affairs Committee on the draft such products. DOHA: Hamad International Airport the period, with a record 3,089,826 aircraft take-offs and landings com- and 212,252 aircraft movements. law and decided to submit its recom- The draft law stipulates a ban on (HIA) served a record 8.8 million pas- passengers departing, arriving and pared to the first quarter of last year, Eng Badr Mohammed Al Meer, mendations to the Cabinet. import, trading, promoting or selling sengers during the first quarter of this transiting in January, which was an which saw 56,282 movements. Chief Operating Officer at Hamad The draft law bans smoking in of chewing tobacco and electronic cig- year, with a 20 percent increase in unsurpassed figure for a single month The month of March had an International Airport, said: “With closed public places and stipulates arettes. It bans sale of cigarettes and passenger movement compared to for the airport. unprecedented 20,322 aircraft move- the activation of concourses D and fines not exceeding QR3,000 for other tobacco products to those aged the same period last year. The months of February and ments, which was the highest the E at HIA as well as the technological smoking or using tobacco products below 18 years. Advertisements for pro- The month of January saw a March had 2,722,867 and 3,055,278 airport has had. January and Feb- advancements being implemented and their derivatives in such areas. moting cigarettes and other tobacco record over 3.08 million passengers, passenger movements, respectively. ruary saw 19,455 and 18,511 aircraft in the terminal, we are in a position Permitting others to smoke in such products are not allowed, as per the the highest-ever recorded in a single The same period last year saw a movements, respectively. to handle more passengers, aircraft places is also an offence punisha- draft law. Selling such products in areas at month at the airport. total of 7,360,145 passengers travel- Cargo handled by the airport and cargo movements than ever ble with a similar fine. The court can a distance of less than 1km from schools This unprecedented increase in ling through HIA, including 2,589,400 amounted 389,950 tonnes during the before. We expect a steady growth order confiscation, destroying or re- and other educational and training passenger movement makes the first passengers in January; 2,285,221 in same period, with 125,907 tonnes in in numbers for the remaining year exporting of tobacco products and institutions will also be banned. three months of this year the busiest February; and 2,485,524 in March. January, 122,227 tonnes in February as well.” IS loses half Remembering the Nakba Tunisian President the area it once claimed in Iraq Essebsi arrives today AFP QNA ahead of his official visit to Doha, Essebsi said Tuni- sia attaches great importance to develop cooperation with WASHINGTON: The Islamic State DOHA: President of the Qatar while Doha is interested (IS) group has continued losing Tunisian Republic Beji Caid in further promoting bilateral control over territory across Iraq Essebsi will arrive in Doha cooperation, stressing joint and Syria, a Pentagon spokesman today on a three-day official Commitment to pushing for- said yesterday, including almost visit to Qatar. ward bilateral ties. half of what it had once held in Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin “Cooperation between Iraq. The Defence Department Hamad Al Thani and the Tuni- brotherly countries like Qatar had previously estimated that IS sian President will hold talks on and Tunisia is eligible for further fighters had lost control of about enhancing bilateral cooperation development, thus the visit to 40 percent of the territory they in various fields in addition to Doha will increase and expand claimed in Syria and about 10 per- a number of issues of mutual this cooperation and cement cent of the land they held in Syria. concern. bilateral ties,” said Essebsi. Those tallies had gone up in President Essebsi stressed He added that Tunisia looks recent weeks, Pentagon spokes- the depth of bilateral relations forwards to a visit by the Emir man Peter Cook said. A graffiti in Gaza City commemorating the “Nakba” (catastrophe) in reference to the establishment of the between his country and Qatar, to culminate these relations and “The number right now in Iraq is state of Israel 68-years-ago in British-mandate Palestine, which led to the displacement of hundreds of describing them as ‘historic,’ contribute to the advancement of about 45 percent of the territory they thousands of Palestinians. ‘close’ and ‘renewed’. Tunisian-Qatari areas of coop- once held has been recovered,” Cook Talking to QNA in Tunis eration to a greater level. said. “The number in Syria is any- where between 16 to 20 percent.” IS militants stormed across large parts of Iraq and Syria in early 2014, meeting little resist- Traffic congestion cost economy up to QR6.8bn in 2015 ance from Iraqi security forces and exploiting the chaos in civil- war-torn Syria. Since August 2014, the United States has led an By Raynald C Rivera of traffic congestion, the first edition innovations centre in the region with because we had lots of road projects Other significant findings of the international coalition fighting The Peninsula of the report added. a focus on developing and deploying in 2015.” report were November had the high- back against the IS group, using “Based on productivity loss with smart mobility systems and services. Considering other effects of traffic est travel time index in the morning a combination of air strikes and 102 hours commuters lost, we believe Correlating it to other countries, congestion such as accidents, nega- peak hours while December in the training and equipping local part- DOHA: Traffic congestion cost the the cost of congestion in Qatar is the economic cost of congestion in tive impact to the environment and evening peak hours. ners. IS fighters have lost control Qatari economy between QR5.2bn about R5bn to QR7bn in 2015. This Qatar is similar at about .8 percent fuel consumption, the actual eco- The report was based on analysis of Ramadi and Heet in Iraq, but and QR6.8bn last year, says the Qatar translates to about 0.8 percent of the of their GDP, he explained. nomic cost could be higher, added of more than 50mn speed estimations still control other important cit- Traffic Report (QTR) released by Qatar country’s GDP,” , said Dr Adnan Abu- The average number of extra Abu-Dayya. in major road segments available in ies including Mosul and Fallujah. Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC) Dayya, Executive Director and CEO of hours spent by commuters due to The study also found March was the Masarak Data Bank from January In Syria, the group maintains yesterday. QMIC at the launch event yesterday at congestion, however, “looks high the most congested month last year to December last year. control of Raqa, the capital of their At an average a commuter wasted Marriot Marquis hotel.