Qatar’s attorney general has appointed a committee to look into the damage caused by last month’s rain, following the prime minister’s order to investigate several “flawed projects.”
Those buildings have now been identified as Hamad International Airport, the traffic department building, several schools and the Sheraton Doha hotel, QNA reports.
Widely shared video footage last month showed rain and flooding inside the buildings, though at the time the Sheraton reportedly said it was dealing with a burst pipe.
https://twitter.com/MsBakhita/status/669435903455199232
According to QNA, the investigation will be led by Dr. Rashid Al Amari, dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Qatar University.
He is also tasked with appointing a few engineering professors, as well as two experts in the fields of accounting and contracts.
The committee will have two months to report their findings to the public prosecution’s office.
Rain-hit
Last month, Qatar received a year’s worth of rain in about nine hours.
The deluge caused traffic gridlock due to flooding in many areas. Additionally, several schools and and malls across the country reported leakage and ceiling collapses, causing them to close temporarily.
Qatar’s Hamad International Airport, which opened last year, was especially hard hit.
Though the airport did not close, there were multiple reports of water raining down into the passenger terminal, provoking widespread criticism about the structure’s soundness:
The 14 billion dollars Airport @dohanews pic.twitter.com/QiVBCkx9Gt
— Salman Khan (@de_ingeniero) November 25, 2015
A few days after the PM ordered an investigation into the chaos, the attorney general issued a travel ban on company owners, contractors and consulting engineers who may be liable for the damage.
At the time, Al Marri said the ban would remain in place as the state investigates what happened during the rainfall and decides who to charge for the ensuing chaos, which included flooded roads and damaged buildings.
Thoughts?