DOHA: A draft law was approved by the State Cabinet yesterday which, once in effect, will ban littering or dumping of waste in private places as well, such as near homes, and buildings and in parking lots.
The draft seeks to replace a 42-year-old legislation which bans littering in public places and dumping of waste in places that are not designated by the authorities for the purpose.
The draft law retains most provisions of the existing legislation and adds some new ones and, perhaps, increases penalties for many violations. Prime Minister and Interior Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, presided over the weekly Cabinet meeting, held at the Emiri Diwan.
Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud told Qatar News Agency that the Cabinet reviewed several topics on its agenda.
It approved a draft law on public hygiene. The draft law seeks to replace Law No. (8) of 1974 on public hygiene as part of updating the legislation. The draft law prohibits dumping, abandoning and waste disposal in public places, squares, roads, streets, lanes, alleys, pavements, courtyards, public gardens and parks, beaches, land space, rooftops, on the walls, balconies, skylights, corridors and yards, facades of houses and buildings and car parks and other places, whether public or private.
It also prohibits to leave or dump waste in areas not designated by the municipality concerned for the purpose.
The draft also prohibits leaving animals or birds in places that are not licensed to keep or breed animals and birds.
The municipality is authorized to ensure public hygiene in all its forms, including waste collection, transfer, discharge, disposal and recycling within its jurisdiction.
The municipality may also let a contractor implement all or some of these operations in accordance with the provisions of the law. The contractor shall be responsible for the garbage collectors.
The Cabinet approved the establishment of the technical committee to join the private sector in economic development projects.
It also reviewed the Advisory Council’s recommendations on the measures of licenses’ issuance for facilities by the General Directorate of the Civil Defence and decided to refer them to the competent authorities for further study. It reviewed a memorandum by HE the Minister of Finance on the study’s results regarding Qatar’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
