Minister of Municipality H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie
Minister of Municipality H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie has said that strategic food stock of the country has been readied for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
“According to the real-time monitoring of the level of food stocks for mega sporting event, we are in a very reassuring position,” said the Minister in a recent interview with beIN Sports News channel.
He said the Ministry of Municipality as a member of food security team for the World Cup preparations contributed greatly in launching initiatives to raise the strategic stock of a number of essential food commodities.
The Minister said that there are 58 essential food items and about 500 commodities in the country.
“The strategic stock of essential food commodities has been increased in coordination with entities concerned. More food outlets have been opened to serve the fans. Working hours of many food outlets have also been extended.”
The Minister of Municipality said Qatar's agriculture sector has made remarkable achievements. “Dairy and poultry farms are contributing greatly to the country's self-sufficiency drive. We held meetings with dairy and poultry farms to incorporate their production in the preparation for the World Cup,” said the Minister.
He said that some large farms, which have greenhouses, cultivated vegetables earlier this year to serve the fans during the mega sporting event. “The sources of food import have been diversified and methods of food import have been tested,” said the Minister.
Speaking about the readiness of parks for receiving fans during the tournament, he said the Ministry launched many projects to increase the number of parks and green areas across the country.
“The number of public parks jumped to 184 from 56 public parks in 2010,” said the Minister, adding that green areas have also recorded a 16-fold growth from 2.5 million sqm in 2010 to 43 million sqm at present.
“Local trees were given top priority in planting trees because they are more sustainable and consume less water.”
He said public parks have been equipped with play areas with safer flooring for children, jogging tracks, exercise machines and other facilities for the comfort of visitors. “Some parks have innovations like fitness boxes.”
He said Al Bidda Park is the largest along the Doha Corniche, with a huge capacity to receive fans during the World Cup.
“The number of visitors to the park increased significantly during past years. Parks that received a large number of visitors include Al Bidda Park, Aspire Park, Al Gharrafa Park, Al Rayyan Park and Umm Al Seneem Park,” said the Minister.
Some recently-opened parks such as Al Gharrafa Park and Umm Al Seneem Park have air-conditioned jogging track to encourage visitors to exercise and lead a happy, healthy life.
