BUSINESS | Page 1 QATAR | Page 5 New property Katara Traditional law seen helping Dhow Festival diversify Qatar’s commences market, attract today foreign investors published in QATAR since 1978 TUESDAY Vol. XXXXI No. 11749 December 1, 2020 Rabia II 16, 1442 AH GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Final phase of census in Qatar begins today The final phase of the General Census of Population, Housing QMC plays vital role in fi ght against Covid-19 and Establishments (Qatar Census 2020) will start today after it was suspended early this year due atar has successfully conveyed O Qatar Media Corporation helps disseminate eral Arts Program at Texas A&M Uni- The study referred to a 2019 report to the precautionary measures key health and safety messages versity at Qatar. by a private consulting fi rm company, taken by the State to prevent the Qto its multi-national and mul- correct information in the languages of As migrant workers faced the possi- which showed there were 94 nationali- spread of coronavirus. Officials ti-lingual population through a slew of the expatriates through multiple channels bility of high rates of infection during ties residing in Qatar. from the Ministries of Interior, measures ever since the Covid-19 out- the early stages of the pandemic, Qa- With a population of 700,000, In- Public Health, and the Planning break started earlier this year, and the including newspapers, radio stations, social tar’s multilingual campaign, alongside dians constituted by far the largest and Statistics Authority (PSA) also Qatar Media Corporation (QMC) has media, and posters and fliers Covid-19 preventive and precaution- nationality group in Qatar, making said the field census will resume played a vital role in this. ary measures at workers’ accommoda- up 21.8% of the total, of whom some from December 13 to mid-January From making optimum use of the tions and project sites, helped contain 400,000 were estimated to be Malay- 2021. Page 2 State’s television channels and radio to peoplelf from multiple lillii linguistici gardingdi the h coronavirus i were effff ec- the spread of the virus, they found. alam speakers from the southern In- stations to partnering with key media backgrounds. tively disseminated in the languages of The researchers identifi ed three ma- dian state of Kerala. QFFD signs MoU entities in the country and tapping It was also imperative to ensure that expatriates with the able support and jor factors that played a key role in the Bangladeshis and Nepalis also sur- the enormous potential of social me- the targeted audience received authen- guidance of QMC. success of the campaign: the use of passed the percentage of Qatari na- with Sudan ministry dia – QMC has had a multi-pronged tic and accurate messages, and there The study was carried out by Dr migrants languages such as Urdu, Ma- tionals, both groups individually mak- The Qatar Fund For Development strategy to ensure that people get should not be any miscommunication Rizwan Ahmad, associate professor layalam, Nepali, Bengali, Sinhalese and ing up 12.5% of the total population, (QFFD) has signed a memorandum prompt and accurate information on due to linguistic barriers. of Sociolinguistics in Department of Tagalog in printed posters and fl iers; use and residents from the Philippines, of understanding (MoU) with Covid-19. In this regard, a study conducted English Literature & Linguistics at Qa- of radio stations in delivering awareness Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the next Sudan’s Federal Ministry of One of the key challenges was to by two university professors in Qatar tar University, and Dr Sara Hillman, messages in an oral form; and mobilisa- largest non-Arab expatriate groups in Education to support a project communicate the Covid-19 messages showed how important messages re- assistant professor of English in Lib- tion of community and religious leaders. Qatar. To Page 7 by Education Above All (EAA) Foundation with its partner Unicef, which will provide 50,000 out- of-school children with access to quality formal and informal education. Page 9 US predicts ‘vaccines Qatar signs QR6bn deals before Christmas’ Hopes for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of for e-vehicles, facilities 2020 received a boost with US firm Moderna saying it was filing for emergency authorisation of QNA buses for the FIFA World Cup Qatar Under the contracts, e-buses and its Covid-19 vaccine in the United Doha 2022, the services to operate them and those running on environment- States and Europe. After top US establishing an electric bus (e-bus) as- friendly diesel that is free of sulphur scientists warned Americans to sembly plant. which causes harmful emissions will brace for a “surge superimposed atar yesterday signed con- The agreements are within the be provided and the infrastructure for on the surge,” Moderna reported tracts worth QR6bn with sev- framework of implementing the elec- them established, such as stations, HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin full results had confirmed a high Qeral companies to purchase and tric vehicle strategy prepared by the warehouses and parking lots. Abdulaziz al-Thani and HE the Minister of Transport and Communications eff icacy estimated at 94.1%. manufacture environment friendly ve- Ministry of Transport and Communi- Additionally, a factory to assemble Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti witness the signing of an agreement. hicles in the country. cations. e-buses will be set up in a free zone. Biden taps Yellen as The agreements were signed in the The contracts were signed by the Mowasalat (Karwa) signed two con- ices for such buses and their facili- QFZA signed a multilateral frame- presence of HE the Prime Minister and Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZA), tracts to purchase buses to be be oper- ties, in addition to providing the smart work agreement with Yutong and Treasury secretary Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid bin the Supreme Committee for Delivery & ated during the World Cup - one with technology and techniques to manage Mowasalat to manufacture e-buses in US President-elect Joe Biden Khalifa bin Abdulaziz al-Thani. Legacy (SC), the Public Works Author- Yutong for 741 electric buses and 261 the bus fl eet. Additionally, the contract Umm AlHoul Free Zone, with the fi rst yesterday formally tapped ex- The deals are part of Qatar’s plan to ity (Ashghal), Karwa Transportation diesel buses and the second with Higer stipulates the provision of all safety e-buses produced for the World Cup. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen implement the transformation of pub- Company, Chinese companies Yutong to purchase 1,815 buses powered by the and security requirements, essential A number of these e-buses will be ear- to lead the Treasury, as he named lic transport to environment-friendly and Higer and a number of private sec- new eco-friendly diesel. transportation plans and necessary marked for export across the Middle off icials to try to revitalise the vehicles. tor companies in the contracting and The SC signed a contract with consultation services. These contracts East, Europe, South America and Af- world’s largest economy. Page 11 The contracts include purchasing construction sectors. Karwa for providing operational serv- are estimated at nearly QR3.7bn. rica. To Page 9 Page 16 HMC launches lung transplant programme n a signifi cant achievement for Qa- tar, Hamad Medical Corporation I(HMC) has said its Organ Trans- plant Programme will soon start lung transplants. The new milestone was announced at a special ceremony at HMC at- tended by HE the Minister for Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari and other offi cials. A lung transplant is a major pro- cedure to replace a person’s diseased lungs with those from a donor. It is of- Off icials and dignitaries at the launch of the programme. fered to people with lung failure when all other treatment options have failed. patients in Qatar have access to this clinical and ethical standards it ap- Currently, Qatar’s organ transplant specialised level of care. plies, but it is also one that is appro- programme off ers kidney and liver “Qatar’s organ donation and trans- priate to the healthcare needs of our transplants and transplant surgeries, plantation programmes have fair- growing and diverse population. making HMC one of the most com- ness and equity at their heart and are “Being able to off er lung transplants prehensive transplant centres in the something which we can be extremely here in Qatar is a true milestone for our region, the corporation said in a press proud of,” she said. highly specialised teams, and means statement yesterday. “Qatar’s national strategy for or- that our patients no longer have to HE Dr al-Kuwari said the new lung gan donation and transplantation is travel overseas for these procedures transplant programme will ensure that not only world-leading in terms of the and follow-up care.” To Page 2 Kahramaa opens QR400mn Al Suwaidi Super Substation The Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) yesterday launched the Al Suwaidi Super Substation, which is the first major substation with a voltage of 132/400KV to be implemented in the heart of Doha. The substation has been set up at a cost of QR400mn as part of Kahramaa’s plan to expand electricity transmission grids in Qatar. It will serve the Al Sadd, Bin Mahmoud and Fereej Al Soudan areas and also meet the electricity requirements of the Al Bidda Doha Metro station. The substation has been set up according to the highest safety and security standards, with 2mn work hours without injuries. Pictured are off icials at the inauguration yesterday.