IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

In a concerted effort to make matters easier for nationals and expatriates alike, the Ministry of Interior Affairs is moving towards a complete decentralisation of its operations.

Matters related to passports, citizenship, visas, traffic-related matters and criminal investigations will be brought under one roof in several centres to be situated throughout the country, it was announced at a press conference.

Announcing that the first centre in Doha, to be located at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), is to begin functioning soon, Major-General Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Ansari, Director of the Ministry's Logistics Department, said: The Ministry is improving services in accordance with the directives of the Minister, H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani. We are launching several service centres for the benefit of the people."

Centres are also slated to come up in Mesaimeer, Dafna and on Al Shamal Road. The last-named will also have banking facilities, a hospital and civil defence offices, he said. Tenders are being floated for centres in Wakrah and Rayyan.

Commercial centres like shopping malls and arcades are also likely to be sites for passport and visa services, officials said, with special counters to be set up.

“We are coordinating with the National Health Authority (NHA) to establish fingerprinting facilities in the premises of the Medical Commission,” he said.

Colonel Abdullah Salem Al Ali, the head of the General Directorate of Passports and Expatriates Affairs, stated that other than for the convenience of those requiring Ministry services, there will be less overcrowding and transportation problems will be minimised.

He stated that operations in the present offices of the Directorate will be streamlined to cut down on the long queues and prevent overcrowding. "We will be introducing a serial number system for everyone's convenience, set up screens which will provide details of the procedures to be followed and a two-shift system which will allow for morning as well as evening working hours," he said.

The Ministry is now on the lookout for competent personnel to fill up new positions which will be available with the new working hours.

Deputy head of the Directorate, Colonel Mohammad Al Ateeq, said: "Over the past six months, we have been conducting between 900 to 1,000 e-government transactions a day related to passports and visas. However, on a very recent field visit, we found that the number had shot up to almost 1,600."

Mohammad urged people to make use of the e-government system for convenience's sake. "People in general will stand to benefit the most,' he said.

Quelle/Source: The Peninsula, 13.09.2006