Cabinet gives its nod to draft law on car parking

Building permits cannot be issued for designs that do not include car parking facilities in line with prescribed technical specifications and standards, according to a draft law approved by the Cabinet.

The draft legislation seeks to regulate car parking provisions and practices in the country, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) has reported.
The decision was taken at the Cabinet's regular weekly meeting in Doha on Wednesday.
The draft law on public parking refers to spaces specified by the municipality for parking vehicles, which may or may not involve the payment of fees, in designated areas. Private parking spots, meanwhile, 'are owned by others and may be used as paid parking slots with prior approval from the technical affairs department at the municipality concerned, QNA said.
Under the draft provisions, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment handles the specification of spaces, which are not privately owned, for public parking with or without fees, their organisation in co-ordination with entities concerned in the State as well as the management and supervision of public parking areas, the report explained.
'The ministry must pledge to handle this mission and authorise others to practise the management of public and private parking spaces, it added.
After HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani chaired the Cabinet meeting at the Emiri Diwan on Wednesday, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud said the Cabinet also gave its nod to a draft law on amending some provisions of Law No 25 of 2005 on trade registration and decided to refer it to the Advisory Council.
Further, the meeting approved a draft law on amending some provisions of Law No 5 of 2015 on similar commercial, industrial and public shops and street vendors and decided to refer it to the Advisory Council.
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce had prepared the draft laws in keeping with the need to facilitate procedures for investors and the business community.
Under the amendment, the registration duration in the commercial register will be fixed by a decision from the Cabinet and based on the suggestions of HE the Minister concerned, depending on the nature or type of activity subject to registration.
This duration is renewable for one or several similar periods and the specialised management, depending on the request of the party concerned, will handle the registration renewal accordingly, QNA noted.
Also, based on a decision by the Cabinet as well as HE the Minister's suggestion, the licensing period will be set according to the shop type. This period shall be renewable for one or several similar periods after fulfilling the prescribed fee requirements. In addition, the specialised management, depending on the request from the party concerned, will handle the registration renewal accordingly.
The Cabinet, meanwhile, approved a draft decision on issuing an integrity agreement for public officials.
The Administrative Control and Transparency Authority handled the preparation of the draft decision to achieve the highest transparency indicators in the State, strengthen the trust in public employment and further protect public funds.
The agreement aims to improve public employment behaviour and ethics for public officials in the State.
The draft includes provisions related to goals, principles, values, behavioural standards, job integrity, prohibited actions, commitment to the agreement and consequences of its breach.
In another development, the Cabinet took the required measures to ratify the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products within the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
It also approved a draft agreement between the governments of Qatar and Paraguay on avoiding double taxation and preventing financial evasion with regard to income tax, and also reviewed a draft law on facilitating the performance of services provided for in some laws and took the appropriate decision.
The Cabinet reviewed HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce's report on the results of the second session of Qatari-Hungarian joint economic committee held in Doha in September and took the appropriate decision.