So great (or disappointing depending in your perspective) news for the weekend. Villaggio mall is open (or is opening).
@fzaghmout and @queensara33 tipped us that the mall was open. Now I was skeptical. Last time mall management told us that it was opening, they didn’t. I learned that they were always hopeful rather than realistic.
ILQ’s friends, @dohanews, posted that the mall was open after hearing from Villaggio, however I needed a bit more than the managements word. The expression #burnmeonce comes to mind. Havent been to DohaNews? Check them out, they’re awesome.
So asked on twitter and @hamishfs confirmed that he was in the mall itself but very few stores were open.
On our Facebook pages, we were told that people weren’t allowed in because of fired drills and civil defense testing not finished. So people were told to exit.
We asked the community to tell us what their questions were about the tragic Villaggio fire. Since ILQ is all about YOUR voice, we’ve tried to put it all together. We don’t have all the answers but we’ll populate this as we do.
The Ministry of Interior posted that there would be a press conference at 5:30pm today which was then moved to 6pm, then delayed to 6:30 but finally started at 7pm. QTV will be airing the conference at 8pm.
The Minister of Interior has expressed his condolences to the families of those who had died in the fire in Villagio
iLoveQatar received tweets, posts, and facebook messages about a fire in Villaggio. Follow @qatarnews and @dohanews on twitter. You can also visit the LIVE thread here: Breaking: Fire in Villaggio
I’m guessing that one of the things you’ve been wondering for a while is why there isn’t a detailed source for Cinema Timings / Schedule in Qatar? Well I wanted to ask you, besides the basics (like poster, dates, and times), what would you like an online cinema guide to include? Could it just be as simple as that? I’ll be sharing some sources soon so that you can get your Villaggio Cinema and City Center Cinema times.
I still think we need even more cinemas. I agree that the cinema also looked very plain, maybe too bright? Anyway something’s better than nothing and at least this cinema should ease ‘congestion’ from other ones.
I was walking last week around the Villaggio and saw a huge crowd around The One. I doubt many people were shopping for furniture, then I saw it!
The cinema is open! I dont know if it’s finished because I didn’t walk around, but it looks kind of plain and didn’t feel like a ‘normal’ cinema.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medias and regardless of any frontiers.
The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.
