In a major restructuring of government bodies, various independent authorities and institutions set up over the past few years — some of them carved out of ministries — have been brought under a ministry or directly under the Cabinet. The Civil Aviation Authority is being placed under the Ministry of Business and Trade, while the College of Civil Aviation is being attached to the Ministry of Labour. Public utility Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), which was carved out of the Ministry of Electricity and Water several years ago, is being put under the Ministry of Energy. Likewise, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), which was taken out of the then Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture (MMAA), is being re-attached to the ministry, which is now known as the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning. The Business and Trade Ministry is getting another key authority within its jurisdiction, the Qatar Tourism Authority. The Qatar Statistics Authority, on the other hand, is being placed under the Cabinet, whereas the Administrative Development Institute is being attached to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs. The Heir Apparent, H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, will directly supervise the General-Secretariat of Development and Planning, while the Pension and Retirement Fund is being made part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The Judicial and Legal Studies Centre is to be a part of the Ministry of Justice, and Qatar News Agency, the state-owned wire agency, is to be put directly under the State Cabinet. Sheikh Tamim yesterday issued a number of Emiri decisions making the above orders effective immediately. The decisions (Number 44 to 57 of 2009) are to be published in the official gazette. The Emiri decisions also ordered the setting up of a rehabilitation and training centre within the Ministry of Labour. Its job is to provide vocational training to unemployed Qatari high school and university graduates to enable them to get employment in the public and private sectors. The director of the centre is to be appointed by the Cabinet. It may be recalled that the Prime Minister, at a recent meeting with businessmen, had hinted that such changes were in the offing. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=August2009&file=Local_News2009080623335.xml

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