Qatar has been developing world-class housing and sport complexes where its multinational workforce can live in harmony and low income workers can enjoy modern amenities for a healthy living, it is learnt.
Among the facilities at the newly-built complexes in different parts of the country are playgrounds, recreational centres like cinemas and gyms, shopping avenues like supermarkets and souqs, healthcare facilities like private clinics and money exchanges.
Such is the interest shown by the government in pursuing these projects that last year HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani visited the Al Khor Workers Sports Complex, where he was briefed on the progress of the centre, which was formally launched on February 10, 2014.
Designed and developed by Barwa Real Estate Company in partnership with the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy and Qatar Foundation, the project will serve workers based in the Al Khor and Al Shamal areas.
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HE the Prime Minister was accompanied by HE the Minister of Youth and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali and other senior Barwa officials during the visit. They were briefed on the latest developments of the project by a senior Barwa Real Estate official.
HE the Prime Minister thanked the Barwa board for developing Al Khor Workers Sports Complex in record time. The complex is being developed in line with the goals and objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Al Khor Workers Sports Complex provides an integrated leisure-based community for recreation and sports activities. The project consists of four crickets fields, four football fields, four volleyball courts, four basketball courts, four kabaddi fields and amenities such as mosques, a supermarket, a souk, car parks, bus stops, taxi ranks, a cinema and government offices.
The project is operated by a professional facility management company, providing administration, security, cleaning and regular maintenance services.
The Al Khor Complex is being developed by Barwa among other projects, like Barwa Al Baraha, to cater to the needs of workers in Qatar. Barwa Al Baraha, an integrated city for workers, contains residential units and facilities and a huge truck parking facility. The project is spread on an area of 1.8mn sq m and is expected to accommodate 53,000 workers and professionals.
Barwa had said it was committed to implementing safety and security measures in its day-to-day activities to ensure the well-being of workers employed in its development projects.
The Barwa Al Baraha mega project has the capacity to accommodate 24,000 people in the earlier phase. Spread over about 1.8mn sq m, with a total planned capacity of providing accommodation to 53,000 workers, the first phase includes 32 residential buildings, which can house 24,000 workers.
HE Dr Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khulaifi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, has visited the Barwa Al Baraha (Workers’ City) project in Industrial Area to evaluate the progress of the project. Several companies have shown interest in the complex to accommodate their workers.
Companies that have shown interest in the project include Qatar Navigation, Qatar Airways, Qatari Diar and QDVC. Facilities such as banks, utility stores, and recreational areas would be made available to the workers.
According to Barwa, the project was a “commitment towards building a solid society where its different social categories live in harmony, achieved by shrinking the social differences and raising the standards of living for those with small income.”
The project is being developed in two phases. Phase one is already complete and provides Qatar with the largest truck and vehicle parking space, comprising 4,200 parking spaces for heavy vehicles of different sizes.
The second phase of Barwa Al Baraha offers workers accommodation in 64 residential buildings, each with 130 rooms.
“Each room has been designed to accommodate up to six persons,” an official said.
The project will eventually also provide 16 residential buildings for junior and senior staff, each comprising 97 rooms.
Sport facilities, shopping malls, restaurants, a medical centre and public spaces are also part of the project.
Another complex, the West End Park in the Industrial Area, close to Abu Hamour, has already opened its doors for tenants. Century 21, the developer of the project has said the best international standards will be followed in building the 30,000 residential units for workers.
Century 21 Qatar chairman Mana Ibrahim al-Mana had said the housing units would provide comfortable and good living conditions to low-income workers in the country. “The residential units will also serve as good housing models for other developers.”
Located on the eastern side of the Industrial Area, the project is expected to decongest Doha and ease traffic on its busy roads. It is only a 15-minute drive from the new Hamad International Airport.
“There will be units that look like studios which can accommodate three to four persons. Each person will have his own bed, his own desk, and closets,” he said.
The contracts for managing the various facilities and centres at the West End Park have been signed. Qatar Property Management, through Century 21, had formally signed the contracts with its partner companies.
Grand Mall Co is handling operations of the hypermarket while Qatar Bahrain International Cinema is managing the four cinema halls. Each cinema can house 500 people.
Doha Health Care Group will run the Atlas Clinic Centre where residents and visitors of West End Park could avail themselves of various medical services.
The 430,000 residents of the Industrial Area would benefit from the hypermarket, shops, bazaars, and restaurants which offer goods at reasonable prices.
West End Park, once fully operational, is also expected to become a tourist destination where visitors could experience “a taste of Asia in Qatar.”
For the high-income group, a huge residential complex is being built in Al Khor to house the employees of Shell, as part of the strategic partnership between Barwa Real Estate and Shell GTL - Qatar.
Barwa AlKhor – Shell is a residential project extended over 138,000sq m in Al Khor Area, providing 300 apartments distributed among 15 buildings of ground 4 and consisting of 3 rooms, a kitchen and 2 bathrooms, in addition to 50 villas of ground 1.
The project enjoys many services including centralised gas, district cooling and sewage treatment system. It offers playgrounds, green spaces, a mosque, a daycare, a supermarket and a fitness centre, as well as 656 parking lots.
The project is located in the north of Al Khor, close to Ras Laffan. It is considered one of the few residential compounds which enjoy private access to the beach.
