Mowasalat chairman Nasser bin Mohamed al-Malki has highlighted the necessity of putting in place effective and adequate measures to mitigate risks in the transportation of hazardous goods by road.

He was addressing an International Road Transport Union (IRU) Academy workshop organised yesterday by Mowasalat and Ministry of Transport at the Traffic Headquarters.

While highlighting the importance of the issue, al-Malki said Mowasalat, as a responsible transport company, is supporting all government initiatives to develop a safer transport system in the country in line with the goals and objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

"Road accidents are not only raising a lot of questions on the capabilities of every society but they are also increasing security problems, and contributing to the loss of lives, time and money," he said.

The chairman said Mowasalat is working on a host of measures to spread educational and practical awareness in order to prevent accidents and minimise their social, physical, psychological and adverse economical effects on the society and individuals.

"We are also working on identifying the role of the regulations, laws and policies that should come into force to protect the national economy from the outcome of accidents and their subsequent depletion of power, capabilities and souls."

Speaking later, Mowasalat managing director Khaled Nasser al-Hail said saving lives and road safety are an integral part of their company's daily work and the issue is also its topmost priority.

Mowsalat's Karwa Driving School has received several international certifications and is running a number of accredited training programmes. The company is issuing specialised licenses which are contributing to safe driving on the road and reducing the risk of accidents.

The workshop addressed several topics on road safety. Boreas Consulting CEO and IRU Academy instructor Soren Christensen and IRU Senior Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa Rani Wehbe spoke on “Public-private partnership to establish a road transport professional qualification framework at the national level”.

Later another senior IRU official Kim Jraiw deliberated on the “requirements of establishing sustainable public transport and road safety”.

MOI's Traffic Department official First Lt Fahad Sherida al-Abdulla, later briefed the participants on "social partnership in traffic safety".

Dr Mohamed Kharbeche from the Qatar Transportation & Traffic Safety Center – Qatar University, presented a paper on `Transportation modeling of hazardous materials in Qatar'.

The workshop had participants from various industries and stakeholders of the Transport ministry. The event was under the patronage of HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti.