(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A total of 131 candidates, including five women, are competing for the upcoming elections to the fifth round of the Central Municipal Council (CMC) on May 13.
They are competing on a total of 28 seats. One seat has been won uncontested as Jassim al-Malki, the current vice chairman of CMC, was the only candidate in
constituency No 1.
Public services and infrastructure are among the top priorities of the candidates as such issues concern the daily lives of the residents. The candidates' propaganda programmes, according to local daily Arrayah, gives special focus on such issues, which are expected to be among the main concerns of the voters.
The main focus of the candidates include infrastructure and public services in the suburban areas, protection of environment from the impact of major infrastructure and construction projects, creation of new public and family parks within residential areas and development of the Doha Industrial Area.
Topics such as traffic congestion and overcrowded roads, lack of parking lots at key areas, entertainment facilities and main housing issues such as sanitary drainage and high levels of underground water are also being discussed.
However, many citizens are still sceptical of the CMC members' municipal jurisdiction as they have practically no executive or legislative powers and their role is limited to raising the issue and make recommendations to be addressed to the authorities concerned through the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, the report said.
Yet, the current council has adopted a strategy of following up the implementation of its recommendations and started to host officials from the entities concerned to discuss with them what should be done to implement the CMC recommendations as soon as possible.
Accordingly, CMC candidates promise their voters of an active role in communicating their demands to the officials and working out practical and timely solutions for them, the daily added.
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