Ashghal

Ashghal

Type	Government
Industry	Construction, infrastructure
Founded	2004
Headquarters	Al Faisal Tower, Al Dafna, Doha
Key people	H.E. Eng. Nasser bin Ali Al Mawlawi (President)
Number of employees	2,500 (December 2012)
Website	www.ashghal.gov.qa

Ashghal ( Arabic هيئة الأشغال العامة ) is the Public Works Authority of Qatar headquartered in Al Dafna, Doha. Ashghal was established based on the Emiri Decree issued by HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani on January 20, 2004, as an autonomous body to design, deliver and manage all infrastructure related projects as well as public amenities of the State. Ashghal is responsible for the construction and maintenance of local roads, drainage systems, highways and public buildings like mosques, schools, hospital, health centers, parks, etc.

Organizational structure

The current president of Ashghal is H.E. Eng. Nasser bin Ali Al Mawlawi.^[1]

Ashghal’s business units consist of five major affairs:^[2]

• Infrastructure Affairs
• Asset Affairs
• Buildings Affairs
• Technical Support Affairs
• Shared Services Affairs

Programmes

Ashghal currently has 4 key programmes:^[3]

• The Expressway Programme^[4]
• The Local Roads & Drainage Programme^[5]
• The Inner Doha Re-sewerage Implementation Strategy (IDRIS) Programme^[6]
• Sharq Crossing Programme^[7]

Responsibilities

Ashghal is responsible for building infrastructure facilities for the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar.^[8] The Arab country plans to spend up to $100 billion^[9] in infrastructure projects between 2013 and 2022. Various companies like CH2M Hill,^[10] KBR,^[11] and Parsons Brinckerhoff^[12][13] are associated with many of Ashghal's projects.

Criticisms

Ibrahim Isa al-Bakr is currently employed at the Qatar Public Works authority.^[14] Al-Bakr was listed as a specially designated terrorist in September 2014 by the US Department of Treasury. Al-Bakr was arrested in the early 2000s for his involvement in fundraising activities to support and fund terrorism. He was released soon after and, in 2006, played a “key-role” in a terror cell planning attacks on U.S. military bases and personnel in Qatar. As of 2012 al-Bakr has served as a link between Gulf-based al-Qaeda financiers and Afghanistan.^[15] Ibrahim Isa al-Bakr is the brother of Mohammed Isa al-Bakr, a promoter and coordinator for Madad Al-Sham, a purported charity that raised funds for the al-Qaeda branch in Syria: the al-Nusra Front.^[16]

Ashghal has also been awarded many contracts and infrastructure projects contributing to preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Doha.^[17] Qatar has received a substantial amount of criticism and controversy surrounding their World Cup bid, most of which surrounds the treatment labor workers hired for infrastructure projects. Reports from multiple sources estimated that roughly 4000 migrant workers would lose their lives in the building process, many of them unaccounted for, one estimate claiming at least one worker a day would die.^[18] Sharan Burrow, of the International Trade Union Confederation claimed that the workers were “basically slaves”, claiming that “the Qatari government [has] no commitment to human rights.”^[19]

References

External links

• Ashghal web site