File photo of a man browsing the internet at a park near the Sheraton Hotel in Doha.
DOHA: Eight public parks will be opened in Doha and other parts of the country next year and more parks have been equipped with free Wi-Fi, a senior official of the Public Parks Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment has said.
Free Wi-Fi will soon be available at parks in Al Luqta, New Onaiza, Ain Khaled, Al Jubailat, Al Ruwais Resort in Al Shamal, Al Duhail and Al Shamal.
“The Department is currently working with the Ministry of Transport and Communications to install free Wi-Fi in several public parks as part of its project to develop “smart parks” across the country,” Mohammed Al Khoori, Director, Public Parks Department at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment told this daily.
He said Wi-Fi connection is already available in many public parks such as Dahl Al Hammam park, Al Dafna park, Al Wakra public park, Al Khor Corniche, Simaisma park, Al Shahaniya park, and Ali bin Jassim park.
Al Khoori said several new parks are under construction and several others are undergoing renovation in Doha, Al Khor-Al Dakhira, Al Daayen and Al Shamal municipalities. “We have completed work on two parks in Duhail and Al Shamal, that are getting ready for opening,” said Al Khoori.
Four parks will be opened in Doha located in Al Mamoura, Area 66, Area 67, and Al Thumama. Another two parks are getting ready for opening in Al Khor- Al Dakhira municipality. They are Al Ghuwariyah park and Al Kaaban park. The park to be opened in Al Daen municipality is called Lebaib park.
All these eights will be family parks, with all the required facilities, including entertainment, sports facilities and play area for children.
“ These parks are expected to open during next year,” said Al Khoori.
He said Department has installed energy-saving LED lights in place of the traditional ones, sensor technology for taps in bathrooms and allocated special facilities for kids in bathrooms. It also installed sunshades and rubberised flooring instead of sand in playgrounds.
The new parks will also have more plants, some of which will be grown for the first time in Qatar after studies conducted have shown they can thrive in the Qatari environment.
Part of the Department’s strategy is to increase the number of public parks and renovate the existing ones so that green spaces can be found everywhere in the country. This is inline with a national strategy to achieve 20 to 25 sqm green space per person.
He said Dahl Al Hammam park which reopened recently after renovation attracts the highest number of visitors. The Al Khor park and Onaiza park are other most popular parks in the country in terms of visitor turn out.
