ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER 22 February 2014 22 Rabial II 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5982 Price: QR2 ON SATURDAY An artist’s impression of the upgraded Al Rayyan Stadium. British companies win stadium contract DOHA: British engineering company Pascall Watson has won a contract to develop and renovate Al Rayyan Stadium jointly with Ramboll and Icom, another firm from that country. Sources in the British companies said the contract includes increasing the number of seats in the stadium from 22,000 to 40,000, and installation of an advanced air-condition- ing system that will keep the temperature at 24 degrees Celsius. The seats can be removed and reinstalled in accordance with the number of spectators. The contract also includes developing the areas for training, supporters, the interna- tional media and the areas around the sta- dium. Big screens will also be installed around the stadium. The UK company has assigned a director TARNISHING for the project from Icom for design, and has assigned a design consultant from Ramboll. Al Rayyan Stadium is the second one after Al Wakra Stadium to have its design approved. Hassan Al Thawadi, general secretary and head of the Supreme Committee for FIFA 2022, said five stadiums for the World Cup will be under construction by the end of 2014. He said Qatar had taken various steps for completing work on the stadiums before time. QATAR Names of the companies that will be awarded contracts for the remaining stadi- ums will be announced in the coming days. The stadiums being developed include Al Gharafa, Al Rayyan and Khalifa stadiums. Other sport facilities are being built in Al THE ISSUE Khor, Al Shamal and Al Wakra. The exact location of these will be identi- fied after the list of matches to be held here reports was the disclosure of a “shocking credibility at stake. It seems Qatar is fac- is announced by a FIFA committee, which As the Middle East gets ready to number” of deaths among migrant work- ing the same “disrespectful prejudice” that we expect after the World Cup in Brazil, said host its first football world cup ers from India and Nepal. The reports were South Africa endured in the run-up to the Thawadi. proved wrong by the migrant workers wel- 2010 World Cup. eight years down the lane, host Design: Abraham Augusthy fare bodies of both countries, who quoted This is not to say that everything is per- Qaradawi defends country Qatar has come under relevant facts and figures. It’s worrying that fect with Qatar. This region’s construction harsh scrutiny of the international international media outlets that have a great sector is not as mature as in some developed remarks on Egypt media and rights activists. Given legacy of unbiased reporting are coming out economies. with concocted reports against a country. On the Qatari side, the country faces a DOHA: Noted Islamic scholar Dr Yusuf Al the fact that the FIFA World Cup It’s quite understandable that interna- serious PR crisis. It doesn’t have a single- Qaradawi yesterday said he was ready to is watched by almost half of tional media and human rights watchdogs window facility to counter baseless charges appear in any court for his opinions and the will put Qatar under the scanner in the levelled by the international media or to issues he raised, asserting, “I believe I am humanity, Qatar is aware that the run-up to the global sporting event. Qatar address concerns raised by international only speaking the truth, and I do not have stakes are high. is not touchy about criticism. It has a his- agencies. As cyberspace is bombarded with any enmity or hatred for anyone.” tory of dealing with turbulence in politics half-truths and lies about Qatar by “inter- “I am not against any country or person. related to international sporting events in a ested parties” on a daily basis, Qatar is fac- My concern is Islam and the situation of ince it won the right to host the dignified and calibrated manner. But there ing it almost with silence. Yes, it is wise Muslims, and to bring Muslims together. I 2022 event three years ago, Western is a section of people who believe that the not to over-react to baseless criticism. But am now 88 years old. I am not looking for any- media have looked for any excuse to international media is bullying the country. Qatar’s silence is often misconstrued as thing at this age,” Qaradawi said in his Friday Suse as a stick to beat the country Some believe they are acting at the behest admission of guilt. sermon at the Omar bin Al Khattab mosque. with. The latest in their series of anti-Qatar of a “vested interest lobby”, putting their See also page 2 He said the condition of Muslims in the world was miserable and what one saw in the news about Muslims made one sad. Continued on page 3 THE PENINSULA www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 FEBRUARYUARY 22,22, 20142014 ON SATURDAY 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.compeninsulaqatar.com Home International media distorting facts Qatar needs to defend its image as sections of Western media ratchet up their biased campaign BY SATISH KANADY non-profit organisation dismissed the daily’s claims as baseless and fabricated. DOHA: The international media has Reacting to the reports, PNCC vice been relentlessly after Qatar since chairperson Kul Prasad Karki ques- it won the right, in 2010, to host the tioned the motives of the Western 2022 FIFA World Cup. It made trou- media. “As a migrant welfare body, we bling allegations against Qatar before have been working across the Middle and after its successful bid for the East for long. An equal number of fatali- event. The country deftly handled it ties are reported from across this region, with dignity and poise. including in other GCC countries like After a brief interval, the media Saudi Arabia and the UAE”. seems to be attacking Qatar with He asked why the international media renewed vigour. Recent reports in a sec- was focusing on Qatar and turning a tion of the Western media raise serious blind eye to more fatalities happening questions about responsible journalism. in other parts of the region. Last week, Western dailies published The Indian embassy claimed that the two reports questioning Qatar’s right international media had fudged statis- to host the 2022 event in the light of tics related to mortality rates of Indian allegedly high rates of death among expatriates in Qatar. “Most of the deaths The Western media has Directives have been The numbers quoted by Nepalese and Indian migrant labourers are by natural causes. It is, therefore, a perception problem. issued by the authorities the international media in the country. The embassies and labour inappropriate to use these figures in a Right from Qatar winning to the construction are highly alarming. We welfare bodies of the two countries dis- distorted manner,” said the mission. missed the reports, published by highly Indian Community Benevolent Forum the bid, you can see a sector to strictly adhere would have definitely respected British dailies, as “baseless (ICBF) is a welfare body of Indian expa- pattern in the consistent to the code of ethics and taken notice if these and concocted”. triates in Qatar. It has been involved attacks. international standards. numbers were real. “The Western media has a percep- in day-to-day issues faced by migrant — Ahmad Jassim Al Jolo — Hassan Al Thawadi — Kareem Abdullah tion problem. Right from Qatar winning Indian workers in Qatar fore more the bid, you can see a pattern in the than 30 years. Its’ president Kareem consistent attacks on Qatar. They still Abdullah said ICBF was shocked to see cannot accept the fact that a country in the international media suggesting that the GCC region is capable of hosting the all the Indian expatriates who had died World Cup”, said Ahmad Jassim Al Jolo, in Qatar were construction workers. chairman of Qatar Society of Engineers. Work-related fatalities do occur in with other issues to protect their inter- construction accident was falling from “The problem with Qatar is that until The construction sector is risky. Qatar. In 2013, there were 14 worksite ests. This must be stopped, he added. heights, which led to 23 deaths — 60 recently it didn’t have an effective Local Work-related accidents happen all over deaths. The previous year, there were Britain’s Health and Safety Executive percent of all deaths recorded during Organising Committee (LOC). FIFA the world. The media is just doing a 13. “We do not know why the interna- (HSE) is a national independent watch- the period. will only coordinate with a body that ‘shoot and scoot’ job. Instead of playing tional media is going crazy about Qatar,” dog for work-related health, safety and “The British media should focus on is football-centric. It will not directly with statistics, they must specify exact Abdullah told The Peninsula. illness issues. HSE’s statistics for 2012/13 causalities in the UK’s construction communicate with government bodies. reasons for deaths rather than shoot- “The ICBF is closely linked to Indian support Elgenaid’s argument that work- sector rather than looking for issues in Qatar has just recently announced that ing over the shoulders of human rights expatriate labourers, especially those place injuries take place across the world. Qatar”, said a Qatari businessman. it has launched the LOC. But it’s not yet bodies, Jolo said.