Barwa Village tenants call for Action Plan

A joint action plan, involving stakeholders such as the Ministry of Interior’s traffic department, agencies such as Mowasalat (Karwa), Barwa, Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning and Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI), could prevent more commercial tenants at Barwa Village from leaving, representatives of the commercial complex tenants have said.
Sharing their views on the prospects of the Village in the wake of reports of exodus of the traders from the place, due to lack of business for more than a year since they started operations, a section of the traders said it is high time a joint meeting is convened to elicit the views and suggestions of the outlet owners at the Barwa Village on the outskirts of Al Wakrah town.
A person who returned his outlet to Barwa citing “extremely poor” business at the complex, told this newspaper that he rented an outlet expecting good turnout of customers, owing to its huge parking facilities and its possibility to grow.
“All my hopes fell flat as the Village received hardly anyone other than those reaching there in their own cars or other vehicles,” he said, while explaining the reasons for returning the rooms. In the evenings, the turnout is extremely disappointing, according to this person.Another trader who is moving out of the place next month said notwithstanding the burgeoning rents at the Village, he had expectations that there would be a good flow of walk-in customers because of the possibility of the authorities providing excellent public transport access to the complex.
“It simply did not happen and the hordes of workers and others coming to the city, mainly during the weekends continued to restrict their activities in and around Mushereib and its neighbourhood locations. This was because the buses that ferried them terminated their journeys in the surroundings and occupied the invaluable parking grounds in those areas,” he said.
The businessman said the cornering of all possible parking areas in the city by company buses and other private vehicles carrying workers are happening at a time when vast areas for parking are lying vacant at Barwa Village.
“Had there been good public transport connectivity to the Village from the city and other areas like Rayyan and Industrial Area, people coming to the city using company transport would have certainly preferred to spend their weekend evenings at Barwa Village and the surroundings,” said a shopkeeper, who is now in no mood to continue at the place due to “hardly any business.”
Some retailers told this newspaper that they would have happily continued at the complex had there been a steady flow of visitors to the place, at least throughout the weekends and in the evenings on other days.
“However, the lack of public transport accessibility to the place has dashed our hopes,” said a person who returned his outlet after holding on for nearly a year without doing any business.
Businessmen also questioned the wisdom of Mowasalat continuing to operate too many public transport buses through the erstwhile city areas such as Mushereib and surroundings, even after most of the businesses there have stopped operations for more than a year now.
“Why can’t public transport buses be operated frequently from locations like the city, Industrial Area, Rayyan, Muaither and Mesaieed to Barwa Village, with additional frequencies during weekends,” asked a retailer.
He said it is high time the Mowasalat operated direct services from the above areas to the Village, without touching the city’s congested roads.
A section of the traders said in order to encourage entrepreneurs to start businesses at new locations, like Barwa Village, the municipality should consider imposing parking fees in the congested locations along city roads like the grounds near the Central Bus Terminal and their surroundings.
Parking during weekends on the ground opposite to the Dasman Centre on Airport Road should also be discouraged, they said.
The traders also said the congestion in the city areas during weekends would be lesser if company buses are asked to park in the Barwa Village and their occupants are given onward access to the city and other areas, using public transport buses.
“Why should such buses, pickups and other transport vehicles be allowed to enter the crowded and congested city roads during weekends, when there are roads to reach Barwa Village which has plenty of parking space,” said a trader on Airport Road. Requests have also come in from shopkeepers at the Village for direct bus services to the Industrial Area. They said after the ongoing work on the Mesaimeer-Wakrah road through the country’s Church area is completed later this month as expected, the Mowasalat should introduce buses linking the Village, without touching city areas.
Similarly, daily bus services at frequent intervals could also be operated between the city and Village in the afternoons to begin with, and when the response improves, the transport company could consider operating buses in the forenoon hours too, they said.
Outlet owners also feel that along with improved transport connectivity, setting up of more entertainment avenues, waiting halls, standalone cafeterias and affordable snack shops in the Village could help attract more visitors. “Both shoppers and businessmen would like to go to places only where there is a steady stream of visitors throughout the day,” said a company operator who has reportedly suffered huge losses, after setting up a shop in the Village.
“It would benefit those running the establishments if a meeting of the stakeholders is convened early and issues sorted out,” he added.

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