Qatar residents ticketed for throwing trash out of their cars could be blocked from renewing their vehicle road permits (istimara) until they pay a QR1,000 fine, according to a senior government figure.
Civic inspectors have been ordered to photograph offenders and to forward the evidence to the Ministry of Interior‘s Traffic Department, in a bid to stamp out the unhygienic practice.
Ali Nasser Al Hajri, head of the public monitoring section at the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP), said fines of QR1,000 would be imposed on those caught breaking the law, according to the Peninsula.
Classified as a traffic violation, the fine would need to be paid before the Traffic Department would authorize the annual renewal of the vehicle’s license.
Residents can pay off traffic fines online through the MoI’s website or via Metrash 2.
The new measure is part of a cleanliness campaign called “We All See You: You Are Not Alone” that launched in March last year.
Since then, posters and billboards have gone up around Doha warning people not to litter or spit in public.
Public awareness
When it first launched, the MMUP said its focus was not on fines, but to raise awareness about the importance of keeping public places clean and tidy.
However, since then, senior officials have announced several tough penalties for those who violate Qatar’s public hygiene law.
That includes a steeper fine for those caught littering generally (QR200), or dumping bags of rubbish on the street or in public places (QR500).
The new fines were instituted after the ministry issued last summer that residents dumping garbage at the roadside, on beaches or at other public places in Qatar risk incurring a fine of up to QR5,000.
Prosecution
Coinciding with the launch of the “We all see you” campaign, the MMUP also set up an Office of Public Prosecution to deal with environmental and municipal violations.
Its remit includes laws governing public hygiene, food safety, smoking bans, animal welfare and water and energy conservation.
The office can impose further legal procedures and the person could face imprisonment up to one month and fines of QR500 to QR10,000 or both.
To remind residents of these laws, the Baladiya often posts messages on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Baladiya1/status/548697643396763648
But questions remain over how strictly government hygiene initiatives are enforced, and whether the new measures will deter litterbugs.
Thoughts?
Conjures up images of inspectors waiting round corners with their camera poised to catch the unwary litterbug. Not very practical. The littering is so annoying and unnecessary though, but it’s symbolic of a population that doesn’t identify with and care about the society that patently doesn’t care about them.
“it’s symbolic of a population that doesn’t identify with and care about the society that patently doesn’t care about them.”
that makes no sense, i’m sorry, can you reiterate my simple uncaring mind
Probably need more English Lessons to understand that.
I need to learn philosophy and advanced literature to decide what your trying to say lmaoo
I don’t think I was very philosophical ( maybe The Reporter was). Here’s your first free lesson by the way – You’re and Your are not the same.
Thanks for the free lesson, and yeah there’s no way your philosophical
Still wrong. That should be “you’re” not “your”.
Your wrong
Seriously?
make me a bounty hunter with a dashcam i’ll be a very rich man
Thank you for the idea…but it wont work without enforcement
just like smoking in public or traffic violations….etc
When the authorities are able to enforce a ban on people sitting at a cafe and smoking illegally, then, and only then, will I believe they also possess the ability to catch people for throwing rubbish from the car windows.
Yes well said … the day ‘people’ stop smoking in Cafe Vergnano and Starbucks in Villagio will be a cause for celebration and a sign that Qatar is moving forward
What does public indoor smoking have to do with littering
They are both prohibited by the law, yet still happening…littering and smoking
for the same reason…what do you think?
That’s like saying if they are able to catch all the drug dealers out there only then will i believe they can catch people littering, The article is about tougher penalties for throwing trash not smoking in cafes or speeding or whatever illegal thing you can think of, That’s what i think.
Enforcement
higher penalties would be useless without enforcement
take the traffic ban of trucks for example
I agree
AMEEN!!
excellent news, and this will probably be enforced just as vigilantly as smoking in malls
Good one! I literally just saw an on duty Al Fazaa throwing his paper tea cup out of the window of his car!
Believe me I’ve seen it several times so far… “Lead by example”?? and who are those sitting under the no-smoking sign at Starbucks Villagio??? “Lead by example” and then they want “Reflect Respect”.. Seriously???
As per the local newspaper, the law has stipulated a fine of QR5,000 for dumping waste in public places like roads or beaches. Another violation that could invite an equal amount of fine is urinating in public or private places not meant for the purpose……… What if there is not a washroom or toilet in sight or just a few cubicles for the thousands of people like the Karwa bus stand for example and the person just has to let go. Would not having the infrastructure in place first and then going about levying fines and penalties be the best way to go about such things
The authorities are assuming of course that these people will bother to renew their vehicle permits. A quick look online at the registration numbers of some recklessly driven vehicles shows a history of driving violations and expired permits, so I doubt they will worry about an additional penalty for littering, when they already have speeding and red light violations.
Maybe the authorities would like to start stopping all these vehicles with expired permits?
I an interested to know if the old black number plates are legal here. I have the new ones with Qatar on my car but I still see a large number of the white on black plates. Can anyone please advise?
Don’t worry about those, that’s the commercial license plate.
I’ve seen Old Bill throwing litter from a patrol car…..more than once
The number of times I saw butts dumped out of car windows …
Does inspectors reach the spot after a call is made by someone?
Since littering happens in a jiffy I don’t understand how it can be caught on camera!
Yay, more “rules” and penalties yet still ZERO enforcement. Typical Qatar words and no action.
What about the still present disgustingly common “open your door and spit out a jellyfish” behavior? There were signs about fines for that as well but I still see/hear doors opening at traffic lights and fine gentlemen letting them buggers rest in the streets.
First world problems at it’s finest
Those who throw trash out the car, won’t necessarily own the car or have it in their name, there are certainly ways around it, but having your vehicle blocked from registration is a nice enough pain to add some deterrent, although the interaction between those who litter, own cars and keep them registered may not be so significant. The traffic department does a pretty good job and has come quite far in the last few years, maybe someone has some insight as to why the trafficking, ticketing and all that are quite effective vs. say that missing piece of pulling people over on the spot for violations, although they do the checkpoints and seize cars, issue fines etc.
Easy. Qatar needs only to take a look at Singapore and copy/paste. No need to reinvent the wheel. You could almost eat from the ground in Spore; that’s how clean they are.
I think we should focus more on cleaning diners and restaurants and being able to eat on the tables 😉
Lol, I’m very satisfied with the hygiene when it comes to food and restaurants. But then again, I don’t eat in the shoarma snackbars and such either.
Usually I’d say “Kudos” in such cases but I won’t. I’ve officially lost hope on any traffic regulation being enforced after seeing the Karwa cab infront of me on the far left turning lane cut off on coming traffic to go to the far right lane, that’s over taking 5 on coming traffic lanes illegally with AlFazaa on all four corners of this very busy intersection watching on. #Sigh