A severe shortage of washed sand has hit the local market again, threatening to stall ongoing construction projects. The shortage has occurred because the firm providing washed sand to the local market decided to stop loading sand from its current collection site for five days. The company said it did so in order to shift the collection from the current location to another site. Contractors affected by the decision have warned that this may hamper ongoing construction works. Sayed Salim bin Buti Al Nuaimi, Chairman Board of Directors of Qatar National Company for Cement Industry, admitted that there was a shortage of washed sand but added that it cannot be described as a crisis. Khalid bin Towar Al Kuwari, a Qatari businessman, said the market has been facing shortage of sand over the last few days, adding that the shortage was of 'plaster sand'. He said the reason for the shortage of plaster sand was that the sole company supplying it had recently stopped supplies for some days. He said there were two sand treatment factories in Qatar, but when a raw materials firm was set up it became the sole supplier of sand to the market. This company, he said, had also reduced its working hours from 24 hours to 12 hours. It may be recalled here that the last such sand shortage was resolved when the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, H E Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani, made a promise to end it at a meeting with members of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) last year. The minister acted after the QCCI Chairman, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem Al Thani, raised the issue of sand shortage in that meeting. "Why is it that we have only one plant in the whole country which processes sand for use in the building industry," Sheikh Khalifa had said. "This is unfortunate, especially since there is so much demand for sand due to the construction boom." The Pen

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