Qatar- SCH and SEC disbanded as Emir reshuffles cabinet

By Mobin Pandit

DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday ordered the merger of several key ministries and restructuring of some others.

The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) and the Supreme Education Council (SEC) have been disbanded. Instead their roles will be taken over by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education respectively. This was the case before the two special authorities (the SCH and the SEC) were set up more than a decade ago.

The Emir also issued Emiri Order No. 2 of 2016 appointing H E Major General Hamad bin Ali Al Attiyah as his Adviser for Defence Affairs with the rank of Prime Minister. The Emiri Order with immediate effect will be published in the Official Gazette.

The Emir also ordered a minor Cabinet reshuffle and later chaired the Cabinet’s weekly meeting and welcomed the new ministers.

The merged ministries include those of municipality and environment and those of administrative development and labour.

The civic ministry was earlier the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning while environment ministry was the Ministry of Environment. It now becomes the Ministry of Municipality and Environment. The Labour Ministry was earlier the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs whereas there was the Ministry of Administrative Development. They have been merged to become the Ministry of Administrative Development Labour and Social Affairs.

The other ministries merged were those of culture and sports and those that were related to transport and communications. They were four ministries earlier. The restructured ministries have been renamed as the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Transport and Communications respectively.

Hamad Medical Corporation’s terms of reference have been redefined and the Primary Healthcare Corporation has been reorganised.

The Primary Healthcare Corporation (PHCC) manages the various primary health centres in the country. HMC and the PHCC are both under the Ministry of Public Health.

For the Cabinet reshuffle the Emir issued Emiri Decree (No 1 of 2016) while to effect the mergers of the ministries and restructuring of the two ministries and some state institutions he issued an Emiri Decision (No 4 of 2016).

Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that both the Decree and the Decision become effective from the date of their issue and are to be published in the official gazette.

In reshuffle H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah was made the Minister of State for Defence Affairs and a Cabinet member while H E Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahmn Al Thani was appointed as Foreign Minister.

H E Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali was made Minister of Culture and Sports; H E Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi Minister of Administrative Development Labour and Social Affairs; H E Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti Minister of Transport and Communications; H E Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi Minister of Municipality and Environment; and H E Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari Minister of Public Health.

Later addressing the Cabinet meeting the Emir reiterated the importance of diversifying the sources of state income in the light of falling global energy prices. He described the volatility of the prices as normal and said there is no room for fear or panic.

“Nevertheless what is needed is to take advantage of the lessons learnt in the past and deal with the current situation so that it reflects positively” the Emir said.

He said he was not talking about diversifying sources of income for the first time. “Indeed there is improvement in some sectors but the state aspires for more.”

Qatar will press ahead with its ambitious projects and plans. Calling on the ministers he said: “Your responsibility in the light of falling oil prices is bigger.”

“However serving fellow citizens and their lifestyle will not be affected by this situation” the Emir told them.

He called for simplifying rules and setting up single-window systems of licensing to quickly facilitate foreign and local investment.

All hindrances facing local and foreign investors must be removed he said noting that there are some complaints in this regard.

There is the need to have a clear and timely plan to help achieve these objectives. There is also the need to focus on projects the state is committed to he said. Unfortunately though the economic advancement has led to some slack in some sectors. “This is no longer acceptable”.

The Emir said: “Mistakes are natural and our officials are known for their integrity and transparency but I stress that financial and administrative corruption which is more dangerous as it sags institutions cannot be tolerated”.

The Emir also talked of challenges in infrastructure education and health projects and some other areas and said he was confident that those in charge of these sectors will work to overcome them.

The focus in the coming years will be on strengthening internally not only economy and security spheres but also other sectors such as education and health and promoting military capacity and developing Qatari Armed Forces.

Deputy Emir H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani also attended the meeting.

In an important development in the Ministry of Administrative Development and Labour and Social Affairs a separate department has been created whose job is to follow up on implementation of recommendations of international and regional organisations.

The International Labour Relations Department will also be tasked with preparing reports and responses on requests from regional and global organisations and collaborate with local agencies concerned to do its job.

It will also hold conferences and prepare papers for seminars and conferences. Recruitment office labour relations and labour inspection departments have been retained as the ministry’s separate departments.

Agriculture and fisheries departments will be part of the environment arm of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.

The Peninsula