DOHA: Utility distributor Kahramaa has begun implementing a law which prescribes deterring fines for wasting electricity and water.
The penalty for wasting water through a hose or pressure pipe can reach up to QR20,000 in a first-time violation, while wasting electricity can make one cough up QR10,000 as fine.
The law is being put into force by Kahramaa (Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation) after an intensive awareness campaign.
Awareness drives have been launched in government offices, mosques, schools as well as for homes.
To reach the consumers, literally a poster war has been waged in shopping complexes and pamphlets have been distributed in large numbers.
Social media have been effectively used to drive the message home to people in the country that water and electricity are the most precious utilities so they must be rationally used.
Qatar is one of the largest consumers of water and electricity although it has scarce natural water sources and depends almost solely on desalinated sea water.
Talking about the law which has been just implemented, the fines are to be doubled if a violation is repeated in three years. Reconciliations are possible by paying to Kahramaa half the fine before charges are brought against a violator in a court of law for legal action.
Electricity will be considered as being wasted if bulbs, tubes or any other such devices fitted outside a building are found switched on between 7am and 4.30pm.
The law is part of a National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency, the drive is known in Arabic as ‘Tarsheed’. ‘Tarsheed’ means ‘To Guide’ but here the term is being used to refer to conservation of the precious utilities and their rational use. As part of the above programme, water waste is to be cut by 35 percent, while the wastage of electricity is to be curtailed by 20 percent.
By last November, Kahramaa succeeded in curbing 14 percent electricity waste while water waste was cut by 16 percent. Washing vehicles using hose or pressure pipes in the open or cleaning up the outside of a building or a building itself with gushing water using the above-said pipes will constitute violation of the ‘Tarsheed’ law (No 20 of 2015 which was passed after amending some provisions of Law No 26 of 2008). The law has been made effective after being published in the official gazette as was legally required.
Kahramaa has an energy conservation and efficiency department which has been tasked with enforcing the law. Some Kahramaa staff have been armed with judicial powers so they can initiate direct action in case they sight or notice any violation. Car-wash facilities have been exempted from this law but for them special rules and regulations have been put in place which they must follow.
The Peninsula
