Al Khor residents lament lack of infrastructure facilities

Local community members in Al Khor City recently assembled at the majlis of Ali bin Mohammed bin Al Ali to discuss key issues of the area. 

Discussion focused on increasing pressure on limited infrastructure due to unprecedented growth of the population in Qatar’s second largest city.

Some said there was a lack of commercial streets which had resulted in sharp rise in rentals of commercial properties and shops. 

They demanded that authorities maintain a balance in allocation of resources to develop infrastructure facilities, Arabic daily Al Watan reported.

Community leaders also highlighted increasing road safety problems due to construction and maintenance of roads and poor management on the part of some contracting companies which, they said, were not complying with safety standards. 

“They have closed some roads without prior notice and put warning signs with regard to traffic diversions,” a resident was quoted by the daily as saying.

Another participant said some signs were not only hilarious but also misleading and confused motorists and pedestrians.

“For instance, the sign at one of the roads under maintenance reads in Arabic, ‘Amaal Yashtaaloon’ (meaning ‘workers burning’) instead of ‘Ummaal Yashtaghloon’ (work in progress). 

Another Qatari said many companies were not able to finish their projects on schedule and demanded that the quality of work and time-frame were monitored so that infrastructure projects, particularly roads being built in Al Khor, did not meet the fate of Salwa Road, which witnessed huge water logging after rains. 

Another problem highlighted was about the large number of single workers living in the area. Their presence has not only put pressure on facilities, but also disrupted citizens’ normal lifestyles, a resident said.

“Health centres, shopping centres, roads or parking facilities, anywhere you go, you have to face long queues,” said a participant. “Everyday hundreds of buses transporting construction workers are causing traffic jams on roads.” He said this was the reason many people were not allowing their families to come out of homes as the whole area was crowded with single workers. 

As most facilities remain occupied, many families are travelling to Doha for shopping and other needs, the daily reported.     

The Peninsula