By Sidi Mohamed
DOHA: The pavilion of Media and Awareness section of the Department of Traffic at Darb El-Saai has attracted more than 15,000 visitors since the venue (of official National Day celebrations) opened its doors to people on December 8.
First Lieutenant, Adil Hussain, from the Traffic Department, told this newspaper that this was the second year of participation of his department at Darb El-Saai whereby a whole Traffic Village has been set up.
“This year we have more activities for visitors from all age groups and not for children like before,” Hussain said. “For children, we are focusing on safety related to riding bicycles and telling them how to ride bicycles safely and how to wear protective gear.”
There are children’s cars to help them how the traffic signals and pedestrian crossings as a kind of awareness, Hussain added.
A highlight this year, according to the official, there are programmes at the department’s pavilion for people of all ages, from four years to their parents.
“We give practical test to the older people to assess their attention while they are driving, and whether they are receiving SMS-es or phone calls while driving.”
Another attraction at Darb El- Saai is the Ministry of Economy and Commerce’s pavilion where the Consumer protection and Commercial registration departments are represented.
Tariq Al Ouweni, an official at the pavilion, said: “We are participating through these department because they are closer to people, and we are here to explain to visitors what the counterfeit goods and expired products are, and we have some samples to show to them”.
“We are advising consumers to check the validity date and have all the necessary information about a product before buying. A product’s ingredients must also be known.”
Yet another interesting feature at Darb El Saai this year is Al Magtar—a Glimpse into Qatar’s life in the days gone-by.
The pavilion is housed in five tents in a row. The first tent is tribal chief’s tent and in this tent they discuss tribal issues and are receiving guests and in the front of the tent one can see some horses and camels, Abdullah Al Kuwari, the head of Al Magtar activities, said. The second tent is for animals and birds that were hunted, while the third one is for women to cook.
The fourth one is Grandmothers’ tent, (Um Rashid), to tell stories to children, while the fifth one is the ‘daily life’ tent and it is divided between men and women.
Al Kuwari sai they are also holding some competitions for visitors who can ride camels while standing. This is a throwback to the past when people needed to ride a camel fast and while standing, he added.
The Peninsula
