Jordanian Delegations Visit CGIS   The Centre for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) was honored with 2 official delegations from the Hashmite Kingdom of Jordan in April. Zul Jiwani presenting a silver Dhow to H.E. Dr. Tobaishat Municipal, Rural, and Environmental Affairs (MREA) Minister Dr. Abdul Razzak Tobaishat lead an official delegation from Jordan to Qatar on a 5 day fact-finding mission. A highlight of his visit was his afternoon at the CGIS offices, where the Jordanian contingency including Dr. Tobaishat; Zuhair Khalifa, General Manager of Cities Development Bank; and Bassem Al-Khateeb, Office Manager of the MREA Ministry was welcomed by Dr. Abdulrehman Al-Buainain, Qatar's Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Land Affairs; Zul Jiwani, Head of CGIS; Hussain Al-Sayegh, CGIS Head of Administration Services; and Abdulla Al-Kuwari, CGIS Head of Support Services. Commencing with an executive overview of the activities of CGIS by Jiwani, the group proceeded to the Drainage Division, where Mohamed Al-Hajri, Head of the division discussed his group's GIS implementation. The visit was concluded with a special presentation of a silver Dhow by Jiwani to the minister. On Monday, April 8th 1996, Mamdouh Al-Abadi, Mayor of the Greater Amman Municipality and his delegation also visited CGIS to learn first-hand about Qatar's nationwide GIS implementation. The group was greeted by Al-Sayegh, who provided the CGIS overview and its affiliation with other government agencies, while Jeff Kuran, Head of Mapping & Positioning Services Section discussed the administration of the CGIS database. The entourage then proceeded to the drainage division where Al-Hajri demonstrated the division's Drainage Information System (DIS). Al-Hajri explained how the data was acquired from the field and how it can be accessed through DIS for querying and analysis. The Jordanian visitors were so impressed with the positional accuracy of the drainage features that they asked to have a site visit arranged to see the surveying methodologies employed. Mr. Abbadi and his accompanying delegation touring the Centre The site selected for the demonstration was a residential area of Al Matar Al Qadeem. The survey team set up two kinds of surveying equipment, a conventional Total Station and the newer GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, both of which were demonstrated to show their respective advantages and limitations. Before ending their visit to Doha, arrangements were made between the delegation and CGIS to train a Jordanian technical team to set up a GIS for the municipality of Amman, Jordan. CONTENTS NEXT