QATARSUCKS and the world needs to know!

Two hundred Asian laborers working for a Qatar mega project have been left without water, food and electricity for more than a week, a group of expatriate volunteers said here yesterday.

Some workers are in poor health, the volunteers added.

Since last Wednesday the workers, comprising 195 Nepalese and 5 Bangladeshis, are relying on the generosity of expatriate residents to survive.

None of the local authorities, labor department officials, diplomats at the Nepali embassy or human rights officials has intervened or looked into the issue, the volunteers claimed.

While Qatar has promised to give athletes and spectators "the games of your life" it seems many of the construction workers who built the facilities won't share the same happy memories from their Games experience.

Efforts have been made in Qatar to improve the standard of living for the legions of migrant workers, but it seems that plenty more needs to be done. Workers who refurbished Khalifa Stadium, venue for Friday's extravagant opening ceremony, say contractors continue to rob them of a slice of their paltry wages.

Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation's (Kahramaa) decision to impose a fee on the public taps put up by Qataris in front of their houses, has invited sharp reactions from various quarters. Prominent citizens termed Kahramaa's decision as ‘inhuman’ and the fee as ‘exorbitant’.

Being nationals, Qataris are eligible for free domestic consumption of power and water. And several nationals have put up public taps in front of their houses to quench the thirst of hapless expatriate labourers and pedestrians during summer.

The Supreme Education Council (SEC) has raised the salaries of all the Qatari teachers working with the Independent Schools. A decision in this regard was taken at an executive committee meeting of the Council held in January this year, which was chaired by H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, according to Al Sharq.

About 1,500 Qatari teachers at the Independent Schools- male and female- will now get a hike of QR2,600 each in their monthly salaries, the paper said.

Some Qatari intellectuals and candidates have criticised the electoral law which they say denies full political rights to citizens, days ahead of the Central Municipal Council's elections.

The exclusion of seven candidates, all naturalised Qataris, from the electoral contest stirred a heated debate over the electoral law, which a growing part of the community deems as unconstitutional.

A measly five percent of Qataris are working in the private sector, according to a report issued by the local statistical bureau. Nationals are shying away from private sector jobs due to low pay and less benefits in comparison to government ministries and departments.

One national, Adnan Al Emadi, cited an example of government departments allowing 10 days off for Eid, while the private sector only allows a mere three-day holiday.

Despite the fact that newspaper censorship was lifted in Qatar more than 10 years ago, the country ranks second in the Arab world after Egypt when it comes to restricting the print media from doing its job freely and fairly.

This is the gist of a report issued recently by Amman-based Centre for Human Rights Studies. Some senior officials of the Centre were here recently to conduct a symposium held by Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) on human rights and free expression.