The extended time taken by the General Directorate of the Civil Defence (GDCD) to issue the necessary approvals required for starting a business at any facility was discussed yesterday at the Advisory Council.
At the regular weekly meeting of the 44th ordinary session the Council reviewed the request of a number of its members to discuss this issue and suggest solutions to expedite the process of issuing the approvals by the GDCD.
The request for discussion was accordingly referred to the Council’s committee for internal and external affairs for further study and submission of a report in this regard.
Fahd bin Mubarak al-Khayareen, the secretary general of the Advisory Council, presented the details of the discussion request, affirming that ensuring the safety and security of equipment and systems of a building are the necessary requirement of the GDCD before giving its approval.
“However, this process takes a very long time undermining the interests of the locals and business owners causing them further losses, whether the building is residential or commercial,” he said.
Al-Khayarin pointed out that the delays in getting the necessary pre-approvals of the GDCD causes investors a lot of loss. This, he stressed, poses a real challenge and hurdle for the process of development in the country and reflects negatively on the economic activities, and it need to be addressed soon.
Mohamed Abdulla al-Sulaiti, the Council’s controller, stated that the requests in this regard touches on a major difficulty suffered by traders, investors and real-estate owners.
“Such bureaucratic hurdles should be abolished to expedite the process of development. The multiple changes and requirements in the application process for getting the GDCD approvals perplex the users and causes investors more losses especially that companies that implement safety and security equipment requirement have started to increase their charges, which would in turn hike the overall cost of any start-up business.
“Yet, the safety and security requirements should never be undermined or overlooked in anyway. The urgent need is to speed up the process and be specific, clear, and straightforward about the necessary requirements and conditions.”
The meeting was chaired by HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Mohamed bin Mubarak al-Khulaifi.