Affordable housing need of the hour

Dear Sir,

The report “Qatar land price surge threatens property profitability” (Gulf Times, June 1) paints an alarming situation on land prices and the consequent effect on rents in Qatar.
The meteoric rise in land prices makes it impossible to offer residential or commercial buildings with reasonable rents. Both have cascading effect on the rising cost of living which is one of the highest in the region.
International affordability standards set apart one-third of the earnings for rent. However in Qatar, an average Asian expatriate has to shell out almost 40 to 50% of his earnings for a reasonable family accommodation. This is driving them to look for shared and partitioned villas.
Provision of more affordable housing facility for expatriates is the need of the hour. Most of the working class people find it difficult to locate suitable accommodation near to their work-places, which adds to the traffic congestion on Doha’s roads. Though Qatar laws prohibit raising rent more than a certain percentage annually, the increases are to the tune of 30 to 40% in some cases. No one will take the trouble of approaching a Court of Law for redressal of their grievances in a country where they earn their livelihood.
Unless the concerned government departments take note of the present rent situation, it is likely to be incorrigible in no time. When the country is sprucing up for the mega events like the 2022 World Cup, the shortcomings on the housing sector need immediate attention.
Satellite cities can be developed in under-developed areas so that the congestion in the cities can be avoided and affordable housing provided to the working people.
 Once the metro is commissioned, commuting to and from these places will be quite easy.

Jacob Mathew, (Address supplied)

The appeal of pictures

Dear Sir,

With reference to the letter “Politics versus showbusiness” by BN (Gulf Times, June 2), I would like to say that I have no ill-feelings towards showbiz. I was actually trying to point out in my original letter “Message of pictures” (Gulf Times, May 31) that pictures had wider appeal to youngsters than words.  A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words.
To augment my claim I would like to allude to another picture that appeared in Gulf Times on June 1 with the caption “President starts Sweden visit” on an Indian page. In this picture, King Carl Gustaf’s appearance reveals many details about Sweden as a country and its tradition.
On the contrary, the Indian president, though well-attired, doesn’t have the look of a chief of the defence forces, which is what he is in India. This is because Indian government leaders don’t have a ceremonial uniform for state visits.
Going back to BN’s letter, I’m at a loss to understand his/her remark that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “can’t compete with Bollywood stars”.
As a correction to BN’s observation, I would like to state that Modi’s initiative to spread the awareness of positive effects of meditation and yoga, which he practises too, reveals his healthy approach. These have made him quite fit too.
On the contrary, the Bollywood star in the picture, which was the subject of my original letter, descends from a  family closely linked to Bollywood films for over six decades. We know that renowned actors hailing from that family turn obese with growing age,  which is  not a healthy feature at all. In comparison, Modi, though past his middle age, seems the personification of health and to top it all, also highlights the need for health and hygiene to all Indians.
Film actors are only appealing when they are protagonists on-screen and when it comes to real life, their off-screen antics often don’t keep them in good stead to deserve the title “hero”.
Lastly, I have a question for BN. After watching his favourite heroes in films for three hours or so, why does he/she crave to see them again on the pages of Gulf Times?

Shiny Bash V K, (Address supplied)

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