Fuel Station Inspections
This last week an underground tank at a fuel station not too far from us blew up. There were no fatalities, thanks be to God, but some very scared laborers, who were in a bus that fell into the hole after the explosion.
This morning AdventureMan called; he had driven by and saw the scene: a blown-out underground tank, evidence everywhere of the blast, and a sign that says “Station temporarily closed for maintenance.”
Fuel station safety to be reviewed
Web posted at: 10/17/2009 1:2:52
Source ::: The PENINSULA / By ABDULLAH ABDULRAHMAN
DOHA: Safety conditions at petrol and automobile service stations across the country might be reviewed by the authorities.
The government is setting up a committee to study the condition of petrol and service stations.
The move follows a massive explosion which took place in a fuel storage tank at a service station in the city early on Wednesday morning.
The incident left a bus and car, which were refuelling there, partly damaged. Some labourers who were being transported to their work site in the bus, suffered minor injuries. Some shops in the vicinity of the tank were also damaged, albeit slightly.
The explosion, an Interior Ministry source told Al Sharq, did not take place due to any laxity in safety measures. Rather, it was a freak accident.
Nevertheless, plans are afoot to have a panel in place which would assess the need to review the condition of the existing fuel storage tanks at petrol and service stations and see if they could be reconstructed, if the need be, the source said.
The proposed committee will have experts and work under Qatar Petroleum (QP). It will have representatives from the Interior Ministry and other government agencies as well.
The Civil Defence Department, which is a part of the Interior Ministry, monitors safety conditions at fuel stations. It is studying the conditions and assessing if they need to be improved.
It is likely that regular monitoring of fuel storage tanks would be done.
Meanwhile, there have been 478 incidents of fire in the country so far this year.
At least two people have died in these incidents and eight have suffered serious injuries.
Some 26 incidents of fire have taken place in homes, 99 in vehicles and 43 in commercial establishments other than industrial units. Some 30 industrial units have reported fires, while nine farm houses and two ships were also involved in incidents of fire.
THE PENINSULA
Farewell Dar al Thaqafa
We were sitting in a meeting when two friends rushed in, full of news of the fire down at the Souk al Diraa / Souk al Asseiri, familiarly known as The Fabric Souks. Our friend’s car had been near where the blaze broke out and they had been stuck while the firemen refused to allow her near her car, and finally they moved it out of the way for her, covered with ash and dirty water, but otherwise unharmed.
We all waited breathlessly to hear if the fabric souks were harmed. They weren’t. For such a big blaze, such a long-lasting fire, no lives were lost, no one was hurt, as far as anyone knows.
But in this morning’s paper, I see that while the fire started out a small fire, somehow, it was not contained, and in the clutter and chaos of the older souks, it grew, fed by stacks of stored goods and rubbish.
One of the victims was an old friend of mine – the Dar al Thaqafa. Little Diamond and I would often find treasures there, books you couldn’t find anywhere else. There are other bookstores in this chain, but this one, this Dar al Thaqafa was THE oldest bookstore in Doha, stocking school supplies, children and adult fiction and non-fiction, textbooks and obscure Islamic scholarly works. It was a quiet place, an old fashioned book-store, tucked behind the very tacky toy vender where I once bought both a dancing Osama bin Laden and a dancing Saddam Hussein.
We are sorry to see this old friend go. (They gave me permission to take these photos)
The area was full of small merchants, most of whom I suspect could ill-afford this loss of merchandise and income. I took a photo of an alleyway in the area of the fire (taken in July)
Home Foreclosures: The Storm That’s Yet to Come
This is just an excerpt from a much longer article I found on the AOL Money and Finance Site which you can access to read the entire article, and find others like it, by clicking on the blue type.
Experts are saying that there is a turn-around. I believe it, I also see the improving signs, but the wreckage will remain, and may even get worse, for some time to come in the real-estate markets.
Home foreclosures move up-market as discounting pushes prices down
Lita Epstein
A greater number of foreclosures are hitting the high-end real estate markets in 2009 as price discounting continues to throw more and more properties underwater. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy: As some homeowners see their homes’ values drop below the balances due on their mortgages, they give up trying to save their homes.
Zillow’s chief economist, Stan Humphries, found that while high-end markets accounted for only 16 percent of foreclosures in 2006, by July 2009, 30 percent of foreclosures hit the top third of homes. “That means that top-tier homes make up almost twice the proportion of foreclosures as they did just three years ago,” Humphries wrote on his blog.
Foreclosures are no longer a primarily subprime problem. While in 2006 about 55 percent of foreclosures came on subprime loans, in 2009 subprimes represent just 35 percent of foreclosures, another 35 percent are in the middle tier and 30 percent are in the top tier. The primary contributing factor is higher delinquency rates in Prime, Alt-A and Option ARM mortgage products.
According to the Amherst Security Group, this problem won’t go away any time soon, because:
• Loans are transitioning into delinquency/foreclosure at a rapid pace, but moving out at a slow pace;
• Cure rates are low. In other words, fewer people are paying their past-due amounts and getting back on track.
• Loans are taking longer to liquidate. In other words, the length of time between the start of the foreclosure process and the point when the lender gets control of the property is growing.
The Amherst Mortgage Insight report notes that there are currently 7 million homes in a shadow market — homes that are either in delinquency or in foreclosure, but not yet on the market. This number translates into 135 percent of a year of existing home sales, which means that whatever numbers you’re seeing now about homes sales, they don’t truly reflect the storm that’s yet to come.
Karabaa in Transition
This post is for my friends not here, friends who often accompanied me on trips to Karabaa and all the funky magical shops we would find there. I dropped off the towels at the Mumtaz Tailor to be embroidered, English on one end, Arabic on the other, and while the devastation is no longer so gut-wrenchingly stunning as it was – I guess I am becoming desensitized – I can also see changes.
A lot of the rubble has been carted away. So it makes me wonder, is this what The Pearl is being built on? Is rubble from the old Suq al Waqif and these old buildings along Musherib and Karabaa going to the sea to become reclaimed land? If so, isn’t this going to boggle the minds of archaeologists a couple thousand years from now who are going to find all this stuff jumbled together and try to figure it out?
Yes, yes, it’s true, my mind does wander into trivial areas . . .
From the old parking lot, looking towards Karabaa where the honey man used to be:
To help you know what you are looking at – remember the sign that shows people how to park? It’s still standing – so far 🙂
I wanted you to be able to see just how high the pile of rubble is:
All the rubble that was The Garden is now gone, as if it never was:
OK, now, in the midst of all this noise and demolition, the rubble and the trucks and bulldozers, there is this oasis of serenity. I often see old men sitting outside on those old fashioned built-in-plaster seating areas, or on the bench. Inside, it looks like it might even be a home for old indigents, but sort of palatial, very green, and well kept up. Is there anyone who can tell me what this is?
Jaidah Flyover roadworks finish in five days
From today’s Gulf Times comes news that one of the worst current traffic snarls in town will be history in five days.
Do you believe it?
And now – how is the work on D-ring going? Any news on how soon it will be completed?
By Sarmad Qazi
The road works under the Jaidah flyover are expected to be completed in five days, an official said yesterday.
The busy junction leading to the Corniche and the densely-populated Musheireb area in one direction and to Ramada junction and the Salwa highway on the other was dug up towards the end of September for expansion work.
Read the whole article HERE
Maid Builds Mansion with Elderly Employer’s ‘Gift’
This is a sticky situation – not a new situation, it is timeless, and not unique to Kuwait – it is everywhere. People with elderly parents need to pay attention; the elderly can be so vulnerable. He may well have given his caretaker the money. His poor 108 year old mother!
Maid coaxes elderly sponsor to sell home, buys villa with cash
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 3: Police have arrested a Sri Lankan housemaid who allegedly duped a Kuwaiti man in his 70s, and lured him into selling his home, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.
It is reported the woman, who was working for the old man, induced him to sell his home, and then took the money from him. She is said to be worth about KD 120,000. She has also built a mansion in her home country.
A security source said the man’s mother, who is about 108 years old, and his family have lodged a complaint at the police station. However, the maid claims the man had given the money to her of his own free will.
Doha Museum of Islamic Art Wins Coveted Award
What I love the most about this award is that it takes into account the usage of local materials. It’s also something I love about The Pearl development; all those buildings and villas built on the rubble carted away from earlier demolition projects and turned into reclaimed land. 🙂 Re-cycling to the max!
Museum of Islamic Art bags architecture award
Web posted at: 10/6/2009 1:19:1
Source ::: The PENINSULA
Dubai: Museum of Islamic Art in Doha was awarded “Overall Project of the Year” at the 2nd Annual Middle East Architect Awards.
Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) was presented with the award, for the Museum of Islamic Art – Doha, at a ceremony hosted by the Middle East Architect magazine.
The annual ceremony is the most prestigious event dedicated to recognise outstanding architectural projects in the region.
The Museum of Islamic Art was chosen for its traditional design principles that use indigenous materials and processes and integrates them with contemporary technology to create familiar, functional and environmentally sustainable architecture.
Accepting the award on behalf of QMA, Omar Chaikhouni, Manager of Public Relations and Information said: “We are delighted and honoured to be recognised as the top overall project in 2009 among all the nominees from the region. The Middle East Architect awards ceremony is a great initiative and we wish it all the success in years to come.”
Organised by ITP Business Publishing, the lavish awards ceremony took place at the Westin Dubai with the presence of more than 200 leading professionals from the region’s architecture industry, including architects, developers, service providers, contractors and building owners.
The 2nd Annual Middle East Architect Awards set out to raise the profile of the industry and reward and recognise those that have made significant contributions to its development.
Ten awards were presented at the ceremony in categories that covered a number of fields, from infrastructure project of the year to mixed-use development of the year, and from engineering firm of the year to architect of the year.
The winners were judged by a panel of experts, which consisted of industry-leading academics, architects and engineers from around the Middle East.
Doha Gallery 5 October
There are still pockets of serenity; one of the older fishing boats moored in Doha:
This isn’t a great shot, shooting through the windshield while at a stop-light, but this is the Barzan Towers. It used to be one of my very favorite buildings in town; I loved the way it incorporated some of the old Gulf themes into it’s modern day structure. Now, it is dwarfed by taller buildings, some of which also incorporate traditional details, most of which don’t. You really have to look for it to see it now.
Karabaa in Rubble
It’s even worse. Rubble everywhere. It looks like a war zone.
Ripping out the Heart of Doha . . .
Qatar Rents Expected to Fall Further as Supply Exceeds Demand
Hot off the press, in today’s Peninsula:
Experts expect house rents to fall further
Web posted at: 9/28/2009 0:55:46
Source ::: The Peninsula
DOHA: Real estate experts estimate that some 6,000 new housing units have sprung up in Doha and its suburbs for uptake this year alone.
With supplies having gone up, the experts expect house rents to fall by a further five to 10 percent over the short term.
House rents are believed to have dropped between 30 and 40 percent until now, says the manager of a real estate company, Falah Matar.
“So due to higher supply, tenants now have a lot of option,” he added.
According to Khalifa Al Muslemani, another real estate expert, some 6,000 new housing units have come on the market this year, further pushing supplies higher.
These are both private and semi-government projects. “Higher supplies have led to a fall in rents,” added Al Muslemani.
Talking of the existing rent law which was enforced in early 2008 for two years, Matar said there was the need for a new legislation to replace it once it expires in February next year.
The proposed law should either lower the limit by which landlords can raise rents annually to five percent, or retain the existing limit of 10 percent.
He allayed fears among tenants that once the current rent law expires landlords would begin to raise rents unjustifiably like they did in the previous years.
He said that due to excess supplies, tenants facing this kind of pressure from property owners would have the option to leave and look for alternative accommodation.
Agreeing with this view, an official from a real estate agency, Mahmoud Al Jirsha said tenants need not worry about landlords raising rents unjustifiably because of huge supplies.
The situation in the previous years was different because housing supplies were limited and the demand was far too more. “Reverse is the case now as supplies far exceed demand,” he added.
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