THE 22 roundabouts in Hamad Town could have their maintenance, irrigation and rehabilitation tenders unified in a bid to keep them all tidy and in tip-top condition.
Northern Municipal Council has proposed and sanctioned the move but face opposition from Northern Municipality officials who believe separate budgets are necessary because of the various designs and projects involved.
The motion was tabled by the council’s technical committee chairman Abdullah Al Qubaisi who complained that separate tenders lengthened the process and delayed urgent irrigation and maintenance work.
“This proposal aims to unify the tender process for all 22 roundabouts in Hamad Town because the current procedure with separate tenders takes too long,” he said during the council’s meeting.
“We are looking at the time needed for maintenance, irrigation and watering the plants that are placed on the roundabouts as waiting for the current process to progress has led to damage on these projects.
“Plants are getting neglected and they dry up and maintenance work is delayed awaiting approval of the best tender to go through – which sometimes takes months.
“Around 150,000 people live in Hamad Town so it’s disappointing to see the roundabouts looking neglected because of delays in getting work carried out. There are budgets allocated and yet there is no regulation, monitoring or urgency.”
Hamad Town consists of four constituencies represented by Mr Al Qubaisi, council vice-chairman Yaseen Zainal, Ahmed Al Mannai and Mohammed Al Dhaen.
Mr Al Qubaisi stressed the importance of a unified process that could slash the waiting period for the implementation of the necessary work required, without distorting the image of neighbourhoods.
However, Northern Municipality Public Parks and Gardening head Hussain Al Saffar told councillors each roundabout had individual requirements, so a unified tender would not work.
“We are at the point now of allocating budgets for individual projects so taking such a decision which is a blanket tender for all roundabouts will cancel out previous tenders already approved and redirect the money to other projects,” he explained.
Eight councillors out of the 12, however, approved the proposal, which will now be referred to the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf for review.
Council chairman Ahmed Al Kooheji believes it’s an excellent proposal and it was up to the Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry to determine the specific requirements for each roundabout.
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