Apartment With a Gulf View? Not so Fast!
Not so fast! Make sure you know who really owns those flats before you fork out the big bucks! This happens everywhere; people selling or renting property they don’t own, taking deposits, and disappearing!
From today’s Arab Times
Kuwaiti, wife make big money selling ‘sold out’ flats;
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 28: Eight Kuwaitis have filed complaints with the Al-Shaab Police Station accusing a compatriot and his Arab wife of cheating them, reports Al-Rai daily. The complainants said they bought apartments overlooking the sea from the compatriot and the wife received money on behalf of the husband. The complainants said each of them paid KD 100,000 in advance upon receipts and contracts only to discover the apartments have been sold to other people. The daily did not say in which country the complainants purchased the apartments.
Changing Times for Qatar Divorcees?
Many Westerners think all Qattaris (and Kuwaitis, and Emiratis, and Saudis) are rich. The movies tell us so, just as they tell the rest of the world that all us US citizens live on large ranches outside of Dallas and have big hair and wear cocktail dresses during the daytime and lead immoral lives, LLLLOOOOLLLLL. The truth, as I see it, is that in every country I live, we all face similar problems.
Qatari divorcees call for review of law on housing
Web posted at: 9/29/2009 1:8:46
Source ::: The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatari divorcees are entitled to free government housing only if they remain unmarried (after divorce) for five years in a row, so many of them with no job and children to support are urging the authorities to review this rule.
The divorce rate being very high in Qatar and many divorcees taking custody of their children as well prefer to live away from their parents in rented accommodation.
And since not all divorcees are employed and financially independent they struggle to make ends meet with meager monthly maintenance amounts they receive from their former husbands.
Government housing rules in the country specify that Qatari women who remain unmarried up to the age of 35 are entitled to free state housing.
One of the divorcees told Al Sharq on grounds of anonymity that life for her and her children had become miserable as the monthly rent she had to pay for the rented accommodation was quite high.
Living off meager maintenance amount, she said she was finding it extremely hard to make ends meet, especially as children’s education is to be taken care of which is an expensive affair.
“We, therefore, want the government to review its housing rules and consider our plight on humanitarian grounds,” she said emphatically.
“More than the spinsters, we need a government house because spinsters can anyway stay with their parents,” said the woman.
According to her, living in rented accommodation with children for five years consecutively after divorce is near-impossible due to the fact that the maintenance amounts given by their former husbands are fixed while rents have been going up.
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.
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa AlSanea
“Have you read Girls of Riyadh?” my friend asked me on the phone, and when I said I had not, she said she would bring it to me.
“It’s an easy read” she said, “it will take you an afternoon.”
Sometimes life intruded. It took me a little longer. I had expected this to be lightweight, along the lines of the shopaholic books, read ’em and forget ’em. Airport reading, stuff you save to read when you know you will have time to kill.
I was surprised. I guess I had gotten the impression it was lightweight because I had seen it discussed on some of the blogs, and there are some light-hearted moments in the book. The four young women are well drawn, and their experiences are handled with sensitivity. She never reveals which character from the book she is, but I have my suspicions. 🙂
Each girl has her own unique experiences as she reaches young womanhood, and mating. Although the experiences are treated deftly, there is a serious undercurrent that belies the light tone. The underlying circumstances surrounding the mating rituals in a country so tradition-bound as Saudi Arabia turn mating into a dark ritual, full of unseen pits and minefields.
The very worst fear during these years is the wagging tongues of others. I have heard this theme over and over in my own dealings with young women in this part of the world.
“You know, khalto, a woman’s reputation is like glass, it is easily shattered,” explained my young-woman Qatteri friend, solemnly.
(for my Western readers, Khalto means ‘aunt’ literally, and is a term used respectfully for family friends, meaning ‘sister of my mother’)
“I don’t want to get married,” she continued, “They come for you as a bride and they are so nice and they make you feel so in love with them, but then, when you are married, they change. Men are . . . men are . . ”
“Dogs?” I asked.
“Yes! Yes!,” she exclaimed, “Dogs!” (pause)
“How did you know, Khalto?”
LLLLOOOOLLLLLLLLLL! It’s one of those moments when you know we are all more alike than we are different.
Girls of Riyadh is a worthy read. It is thought-provoking, and compassion-provoking. You grow to love these girls, and you hope a happy ending for them.
Exporting Trash to Poorer Countries
From The New York Times, where you can read the entire article on exporting trash by clicking here
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: September 26, 2009
ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands — When two inspectors swung open the doors of a battered red shipping container here, they confronted a graveyard of Europe’s electronic waste — old wires, electricity meters, circuit boards — mixed with remnants of cardboard and plastic.
“This is supposed to be going to China, but it isn’t going anywhere,” said Arno Vink, an inspector from the Dutch environment ministry who impounded the container because of Europe’s strict new laws that place restrictions on all types of waste exports, from dirty pipes to broken computers to household trash.
Exporting waste illegally to poor countries has become a vast and growing international business, as companies try to minimize the costs of new environmental laws, like those here, that tax waste or require that it be recycled or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.
Rotterdam, the busiest port in Europe, has unwittingly become Europe’s main external garbage chute, a gateway for trash bound for places like China, Indonesia, India and Africa. There, electronic waste and construction debris containing toxic chemicals are often dismantled by children at great cost to their health. Other garbage that is supposed to be recycled according to European law may be simply burned or left to rot, polluting air and water and releasing the heat-trapping gases linked to global warming.
While much of the international waste trade is legal, sent to qualified overseas recyclers, a big chunk is not. For a price, underground traders make Europe’s waste disappear overseas.
After Europe first mandated recycling electronics like televisions and computers, two to three tons of electronic waste was turned in last year, far less than the seven tons anticipated. Much of the rest was probably exported illegally, according to the European Environment Agency.
Paper, plastic and metal trash exported from Europe rose tenfold from 1995 to 2007, the agency says, with 20 million containers of waste now shipped each year either legally or illegally. Half of that passes through this huge port, where trucks and ships exchange goods around the clock.
When we were blogging about pirates in Somalia, a Somali wrote in that part of the problem was that rich western countries were dumping toxic trash off the coast of Somalia and damaging the traditional fishing wealth of the country. Once trash is exported, there is no telling where it will be dumped, or what problems we are causing for our descendants down the road. I can’t help but think that we reap what we sow – and that we need to be paying attention to what we are dumping and where we are dumping it.
Expose Violators to Protect Consumers?
This article is from the Qatar Peninsula but it applies equally in Kuwait, in Seattle, in Pensacola . . . when a restaurant violates a health code, shouldn’t those results be made public? They are serving the public, they take our money, shouldn’t we know the state of hygiene and the safe-practices they observe – or don’t observe?
We still remember a time in Monterey, California when we walked into one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in town and found a table, without having to wait. It was astonishing. There were few customers that night. The next day in the paper we found it had been closed for health-code violations. We took comfort in knowing that when it re-opened, it had to pass a re-check, and it was probably the cleanest it had ever been, or would be for a time to come. 🙂
Restaurateurs want names of eateries violating rules to be made public
Web posted at: 9/27/2009 23:45:38
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: The identity of the eateries punished for flouting health and safety rules should be disclosed by the authorities concerned, feel a number of restaurateurs in the city.
Not disclosing the name of an erring eating outlet is unadvisable since it can make all the eateries of a locality suspect in the eyes of patrons, say restaurateurs.
This happens especially as the authorities do mention the area an erring eatery is located in but fight shy of publishing its name in local newspapers.
Al Sharq Arabic newspaper in its weekly online survey took up this issue this time and an overwhelming 94 percent of the respondents said they were in favor of disclosing the identity of an erring eateries.
Only five percent said they did not back the idea, while one percent said they were undecided.
Kuwait Censors ‘Terror’ Blogs, Websites
Teeny Teeny Tiny Article in today’s Gulf Times:
Kuwait censors ‘terror’blogs, websites: report
Kuwait has blocked a number of Internet blogs and websites with links to “terror” cells and groups, a top official said in comments published yesterday. “The ministry has blocked blogs … used by some to communicate with terror cells and extremist groups,” communications ministry undersecretary Abdulmohsen al-Mazeedi told Kuwait’s An-Nahar newspaper. He said the ministry had also blocked sites deemed offensive to God and the emir and which undermined what he called national unity, in addition to sites promoting pornography. Mazeedi said the ministry was applying the law and “aims to preserve Islamic values.”
More information, from Al Watan:
Kuwait blocks terrorـlinked Web sites
KUWAIT: Kuwait has blocked a number of Internet blogs and Web sites with links to “terror” cells and groups, a top official said in comments published on Friday.
“The ministry has blocked blogs …used by some to communicate with terror cells and extremist groups,”Communications Ministry undersecretary Abdulmohsen AlـMazeedi told Kuwait”s AnـNahar newspaper.
He said the ministry has also blocked “sites deemed offensive to Almighty God and to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlـAhmad AlـSabah and which undermined national unity,” in addition to sites promoting pornography. Mazeedi said the ministry was applying the law and “aims to preserve Islamic values.” However before blocking any site, the ministry takes permission from the Public Prosecution.
A number of MPs have described the ministry”s monitoring of blogs as a breach of the Constitution and threatened to question the communications minister in Parliament.
Last year, the Public Prosecution questioned Mohammed Abdulqader AlـJassem for writing an article on his Web site that was deemed offensive to the country”s crown prince.
In 2007, blogger and journalist Bashar AlـSayegh was detained for two days after comments deemed offensive to the Gulf state”s ruler were posted on his Web site.
The man, who posted the comments, a Kuwaiti citizen, was jailed for two years.ـAFP
Last updated on Saturday 26/9/2009
Future Airline Seating Plan
When I first saw this, I was horrified. As I read the article on AOL News and discovered that it is for short-length commuter planes, it made sense. No overhead bins, seating like on the metro or a bus . . . is this the wave of the future?
I don’t see any seat belts – I am guessing that seat belts would be a must – and I can’t imagine sitting for an hour in the middle, with no seat back.
Can the seating arrangement in an airplane lead to more affordable fares? Apparently, the answer is yes. A new aircraft seating design is being developed in the UK for just that reason.
According to a September 22 report by the Telegraph, the new arrangement has been developed specifically for budget airlines offering short flights. The article states that the design “could lead to a 50 per cent increase in the number of passengers on board with a saving of up to a third per seat,” according to the UK-based developer, Design Q.
The design features flip-up benches and face-to-face seating that call to mind the inside of a train car.
Design Q said that the configuration is “loosely based on the way some soldiers travel to battle zones,” according to the Telegraph. In the article, the company also pointed out the design is aimed for short-term flights where passengers are not as concerned about comfort.
The director of Design Q, Howard Guy, told the Telegraph that one advantage of the design is that passengers will be able to exit quickly once the plane lands. Furthermore, the exclusion of bulky seats makes the plane lighter and as a result more fuel efficient.
On September 22, The Daily Express quoted Guy as saying, “[i]t is like taking the idea of traditional transport like a train or bus and asking: ‘Why can’t we do this on a plane?'”
The article also notes that the planes would be able to carry up to 10 per cent more passengers, so long as safety approval is granted.
Smoking Ban Quickly Makes a Difference
In some heartening news from BBC Health News studies are showing that the smoking ban is improving heart health for smokers – and for non-smokers who were once exposed to second-hand smoke. The measurable difference has manifested much more quickly than anyone predicted.
Smoking bans ‘cut heart attacks’
Passive smoke raises heart risk
Bans on smoking in public places have had a bigger impact on preventing heart attacks than ever expected, data shows.
Smoking bans cut the number of heart attacks in Europe and North America by up to a third, two studies report.
This “heart gain” is far greater than both originally anticipated and the 10% figure recently quoted by England’s Department of Health.
The studies appear in two leading journals – Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart attacks in the UK alone affect an estimated 275,000 people and kill 146,000 each year.
Big impact
Earlier this month it was announced that heart attack rates fell by about 10% in England in the year after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in July 2007 – which is more than originally anticipated.
But the latest work, based on the results of numerous different studies collectively involving millions of people, indicated that smoking bans have reduced heart attack rates by as much as 26% per year.
If you are a smoker, the single biggest thing you can do to avoid a heart attack is to give up, which could also protect the heart health of friends and family
Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation
Second-hand smoke is thought to increase the chances of a heart attack by making the blood more prone to clotting, reducing levels of beneficial “good” cholesterol, and raising the risk of dangerous heart rhythms.
Dr James Lightwood, of the University of California at San Francisco, led the Circulation study that pooled together 13 separate analyses.
His team found that heart attack rates across Europe and North America started to drop immediately following implementation of anti-smoking laws, reaching 17% after one year, then continuing to decline over time, with a 36% drop three years after enacting the restrictions.
Dr Lightwood said: “While we obviously won’t bring heart attack rates to zero, these findings give us evidence that in the short-to-medium-term, smoking bans will prevent a lot of heart attacks.
“This study adds to the already strong evidence that second-hand smoke causes heart attacks, and that passing 100% smoke-free laws in all workplaces and public places is something we can do to protect the public.”
Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “These studies add to the growing evidence that a ban on smoking in public places seems to have a positive impact on heart attack rates, which is clearly good news for our nation’s heart health.
“The statistics also show how quickly the benefits can be felt after a smoking ban is implemented and indicate how dangerous second-hand smoke can be to the heart.
“If you are a smoker, the single biggest thing you can do to avoid a heart attack is to give up, which could also protect the heart health of friends and family.”
Latest figures show at least 70,000 lives have been saved by NHS Stop Smoking Services in the 10 years since they were established in England.
Big Mistake – Early Morning Eid in Doha
After all these years living here, I still have so much to learn.
Jet-lagging, wide awake and the sun is just up – it’s Eid, and I am betting that with everything closed, the roads will be mine.
Almost immediately after leaving the compound, I get the idea that I am very very wrong. Cars are racing past our entrance as if it were night-time, when I rarely drive if I can help it. There is a feeling of unrestrained energy in the driving, a release. As I circle the nearest roundabout, I watch two cars crash. One, a woman, is exiting the roundabout, the other, a man whose car was parked just outside the roundabout which is also outside the mosque, just drove right into one another. Neither would yield.
All this, and it is not even six in the morning. It’s kind of like everyone is up for sunrise service on Eid in Qatar.
But I really want to capture some of the early morning light. Not taking the hint, I head downtown, and traffic is heavy. I get to the old spit Where-Bandar-restaurants-used-to-be, and as soon as I exit the car, my camera lens fogs up and I have to wait for the camera to heat a little before I can shoot anything. Oh yeh – me and all the other camera-toting people with the same idea. I shoot The Pearl, and then I shoot a young man just coming from prayers with his very nice camera – a Nikon digital.
The spit is crowded – everyone is there. Some guys in cars are just sitting there smoking in public, just because they can. Entire families are all out enjoying the breezy morning temperatures (LOL, in the 90’s Fahrenheit)
This is my absolute favorite shot:
Actually, I love the water in this one, but I can’t take any credit for that.
This one I call Scrambled Eggs, because there is so much going on, but it is definitely a Doha kind of chaos:
This is taken where Al Rayyan Road begins, at the mouth of the entrance to Souq al Waqif, sheer chaos:
And this is my own palm tree shooting out some new shoots – maybe it is a sign that winter is on its way?
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