(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Amna Pervaiz Rao | The Peninsula
The unjust siege of 100 days imposed by the neighbouring countries have been proudly defeated by the citizens of Qatar belonging to different sectors who also claim that blockade has made Qatar a stronger country.
Talking to different citizens belonging to various sectors revealed that the morale of Qatari nation is high and they think that Qatar has become a stronger country after overcoming the crisis.
Sharing his views Khalid Hamad, Technical Consultant at Qatar Olympic Committee, told The Peninsula: 'As today we mark 100 days of blockade, I would re-phrase it as a successful event of Qatar's history. Today we as a nation have become self-sufficient in every way by the grace of God. We suffered the bad phase and overcame it very easily. These countries are our family and family cannot live without each other for very long, we will definitely find a solution very quickly and become one family again.
'Three years back Qatar had a strategic plan, they were already prepared for any type of crisis any time whether it was environmental or diplomatic. This blockade made Qatar use and implement its plan successfully. We made sure the strategic plans for education, food, oil and gas are implemented smoothly which was done without any difficulties. We opened doors for different countries to trade with Qatar which became a failure for four countries who stopped trade with Qatar. Paints were being imported from Saudi Arabia and now it is being imported from Turkey as we have found alternatives in every field. We mark this day as a success, which has made our beloved country self-sufficient to overcome any type of difficulty and crisis, Hamad added.
Local engineers ensured the projects should not be stopped and opened doors for different countries to step-in and trade with Qatar.
A Qatari Engineer, Ali Al Athba, said on this issue: 'The blockade has made Qatar stronger in many ways. The Ministry of Economy did not harm anyone in Qatar by implementing the plan to overcome crisis overnight. Qatar implemented trading from different countries including Europe, Turkey, India and Pakistan. As the land routes were blocked, we were doing trade through sea and air; nothing could stop Qatar from being sailing smoothly in all aspects.
He said that Qataris maintained the good behaviour and respected the agreements. 'We have been supplying 30% gas to the UAE, which we did not stop as we respected our agreement and principles. As our H H the Emir said if someone is harming you, you should not harm them back. Due to this agreement we are winning appreciation all over the world.
Business was not affected by the unjust blockade. Construction companies in the country had sufficient stock of building materials for the coming months and have overcome the effect of the blockade.
'I am proud of Qatar and people living in Qatar. The way Qatar managed the crisis has been remarkable, Qatar's community will be celebrating this day due to all the hard work we did during this time period was remarkable. We were able to deal with every sector with no time. As part of Qatar National Vision 2030, we have successfully managed projects we had promised earlier. We became self sufficient and became more stronger as a nation. The only phase which has hurt all the Muslims in Qatar was during the Haj. We experienced the real pain of not performing Hajj being Muslims which caused a lot of difficulties for us and our families, said Hamad Rashid Al Emir, Director of Business Support at Qatar Museum.
The repercussions of the unjust siege waged by the blockading countries have fallen apart revealing a stronger and economically independent Qatar. Key sectors including the infrastructure, real estate, construction and industrial sectors stood immune to the blockade.
Mansoor Al Yami, a Qatari businessman said: 'Today as we mark 100 days of blockade it is not a happy moment for us, we are sad because this conflict was prolonged for many days. The satisfaction as a nation we feel is because of the professional behaviour we adopted due to the crisis. We dealt with every aspect related to crisis flawlessly. It is heartbreaking that we have reached this level being neighbouring countries. If this disaster continues our relations will be affected. Qatar's economy is strong and will continue without any difficulties but we hope this conflict get solved within no time now.
Raising the biggest issue faced by the Qatari citizens and expats living in Doha, he said: 'The biggest issue we all faced was during these 100 days was not performing Haj, the conflict shouldn't have affected Muslims in any way, it should have stayed within diplomatic areas. Saudi Arabia also stood against us and spread bad news through their social media and television.
Expressing his feelings towards the stronger and better country, he added:'I would say now that initially it was bad but now all is good. We have set up our own factories and started to manufacture goods like dairy products, agricultural products and many more. Many countries have had an opportunity to trade with us such as Pakistan, Iran, Turkey especially Kuwait and Oman. The relationship with Kuwait and Oman have become more stronger than before.
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