NEWS FROM THE UAE
Excerpts from UAE Dailies
RTA on long drive with $12b project
DUBAI — MAY 30: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) yesterday unveiled a $12 billion plan to increase the capacity of roads by building 500km of new roads, 95 new interchanges, nine new ring roads as well as increasing the number of Creek crossing lanes to tackle Dubai’s traffic problems.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, revealed the plan during a panel discussion on ‘Bad Planning and Infrastructure’ at the International Design Forum which concluded at Madinat Jumeirah hotel in Dubai yesterday.
Outlining the RTA’s plan of action, Al Tayer said the creation of a livable city posed a significant challenge since land use planning didn’t support sustainability and the way communities were planned only helped to increase automobile dependence. Currently, the share of all trips made by public transport (buses and Abra) does not exceed 7 per cent of the total traffic. In response, the RTA will encourage communities to develop through integration of land use and transportation planning communities where people can live, work and have leisure facilities. This will be achieved by providing Transit Oriented Development (TOD) near Dubai Metro, bus and marine stations.
Al Tayer said: “Our plan is to increase the capacity of the roads by building 500km of new roadways, 95 new interchanges, nine new ring roads, and increasing the number of Creek crossing lanes from 19 (in 2006) to 47 by 2008, and 100 by 2020. The total cost is estimated to be about $12 billion.”
He added: “The RTA follows an integrated and balanced approach to transportation planning and believes steps are required in all areas, including land use and growth management, transport demand and supply management, and investment in new transport capacity to achieve the desirable results. The RTA has developed and is implementing a comprehensive Strategic Transportation Plan which covers Dubai’s mobility needs up to the year 2020.”
Improving road safety is the other major issue, since the accident fatality rate in Dubai is around 20 per 100,000, compared to six in countries such as the UK and Sweden. To reverse this trend, the RTA is developing a Comprehensive Road Safety Strategy and will implement comprehensive ‘Safety Audit Standards’. This will include a number of safety programmes and campaigns, including minimum speed limits on certain high speed roads and the construction of 17 new pedestrian bridges at an estimated cost of Dh50 million, in addition to grade separate pedestrian crossings at the 42 metro stations.
Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Tatweer, the joint organisers of the ID Forum said: “The planning and design of Dubai and its associated challenges are issues that are at the heart of our nation’s development. Our ability to tackle them constructively will have a direct impact on Dubai’s growth and its viability as a world-class city.”
The transport issue on everyone’s mind is traffic congestion. ’population is forecast to increase from 1.3 million in 2005 to around 5.3 million by 2020. The rapid increase in population growth is a major factor contributing to the increase in traffic congestion. Statistics reveal that 16 per cent of the congestion is related to road accidents.
The RTA studies estimate $1.25 billion annual loss due to traffic congestion. The studies have found that 61 per cent of the congestion is due to insufficient road capacity.
“RTA’s plan of action is to ensure quick clearance of incidents (towing cycles) and provision of Intelligent Transportation Systems to alert and divert traffic away from locations of such incidents and accident spots,” added Al Tayer.
KHALEEJ TIMES
ADCCI study urges pay parity
ABU DHABI — MAY 30: A study commissioned by Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) has called for ending the disparity between salaries of federal government employees and their local counterparts and recommended increment in the salaries of federal government staff.
The study, which dealt with the phenomenon of price hikes, demanded a review of prices of fuel.
It also called for reconsideration of fees for services relating to licensing, entry of workforce, insurance and other official formalities.
“Prices of consumer products, mainly foodstuff, should be fixed,” the study said, urging stern measures to ensure full compliance of the fixed prices rule and curbing of commercial fraud.
According to the study, there is a need for a strategy that encourages collective import of consumer commodities under government control.
KHALEEJ TIMES
MoH to bring four legislations soon
ABU DHABI — MAY 30: The Ministry of Health (MoH) plans to implement four important laws soon.
The proposed legislations include a much-awaited law on mandatory health insurance scheme for expatriates in Dubai and Northern Emirates, and a draft law on tobacco control, the Minister of Health, Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qutami, has said.
The MoH will also enact laws on pharmacy and medical liability, which are likely to be endorsed by the higher authorities before the end of the summer season, said the minister.
The MoH has finalised drafting of the laws and submitted them to the concerned authorities for ratification. Qattami expressed his ministry’s keenness to enact these laws at the earliest.
The draft bill on health insurance is designed to replace the existing health card system and will serve both the public and private sectors, with the main aim of alleviating the suffering of expatriates who often reel under the exorbitant medical expenses.
The law on tobacco control focuses on imposing restrictions on the consumption and promotion of tobacco products, with a special emphasis on banning tobacco advertising and promotion.
The medical liability draft bill, which mainly covers medial malpractices and medical insurance, focuses on regulating medical practices and providing patients with quality health services.
The proposed federal pharmacy law aims to cope with the international drug policies and create a balanced drug control policy.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Wife tortured in pigeon cage
Ras Al Khaimah: May 30: A woman was beaten and imprisoned in a pigeon cage by her husband and members of his family. They had accused her of killing one of their relatives, who was suffering from a serious illness, by giving him poison.
But there was no evidence the claims were true, Ras Al Khaimah Appeals Court heard.
The Pakistani husband, his parents and sister tortured the wife, who was freed after neigh bours learned what had happened and called the police.
The family were convicted of causing the woman physical and psychological harm.
The parents and daughter each received a one-month sentence, were fined Dh1,000 and are to be deported.
The man received the same jail sentence and fine after his wife gave up her rights to a more severe sentence in exchange for divorce, compensation and transport home to Pakistan. (Al Bayan)
EMIRATES TODAY
Dead girl may have been in hot car for up to 45 minutes
Al Ain - May 30: A four-year-old girl who suffocated after being left in a car could have been there for up to 45 minutes, an expert said. Temperatures inside the car would have reached 54 degrees Centigrade or more, said Dr Zia Khattak, a paediatrician at Tawam Hospital, Al Ain. Doctors at the hospital had tried to resuscitate Hamda Ali Al Baloshi after she was left in the car with the air conditioning off and the windows closed in the Al Muqam area of Al Ain.
“Nobody really knows how long it would take for death to occur – it depends on the hydration level of the child and general health,” Dr Khattak said. “But as an estimate based on results from tests conducted on animals it could take up to 45 minutes.” Dr Khattak said he understood the child had been left in the car and the parents forgot she was there.
“A lot of such incidents are reported in the summer months in the US,” he said.
“We do get cases here where parents bring their children in complaining of fever or some virus when actually the condition is related to heat. Some admit they left their child in the house or the car without the air conditioning on,” Dr Khattak said.
Aliya Salyk of Universal System Architect and Technologies, a UAE firm that produces car safety seats, said there were safety laws to protect adults but not children.
“For example, we have laws that say adults have to wear seatbelts but children are allowed to jump around freely,” she added.
EMIRATES TODAY
Lost luggage woes to end
Dubai - May 30: A new technology that tracks airline baggage accurately to prevent misplacement was unveiled for the first time in the region yesterday at the Airport Show being held at the Dubai Airport Expo.
Dr Morton Greene, president of Inkode Corporation, a US technology company, showcased his new invention – the Chipless Remote Identification System (Cris).
The new system uses radio frequency technology instead of the bar code labels.
Dr Greene said 30 million bags belonging to passengers were delayed or misdirected every year, with 204,000 of those being lost or stolen.
The invention, he said, used nano resonators incorporated into the baggage tag that can be tracked by a reader and provide codes for identification. Unlike chip-based Radio Frequency Identification technology it is economical, not prone to damage by rough handling and cannot be hacked into or cloned.
The technology can also be incorporated into boarding cards permitting passengers to be linked to their baggage.
Inkode Corporation has partnered with Kenzi Technology, a company based in Abu Dhabi, to launch Cris in the GCC region, he said.
The bar code technology is prone to malfunction due to damaged, misread or lost tags – the cause of the majority of lost luggage.
Quoting figures from travel industry experts Sita, Dr Greene said about 15 per cent of bar codes were incorrectly read by the tracking equipment. Bags lost by the system have to be sorted manually and about one per cent of these are never returned.
A Dubai-based TV journalist, Mohammad Nasser, said he lost his baggage while travelling from Egypt to Sharjah on Saturday and managed to trace it two days later to a tourist from Syria.
The tourist had mistakenly taken Nasser’s baggage.
The bag contained documents and CDs that were much more valuable than the compensation the airline would have offered, he said.
“The manager of the lost and found section at Sharjah Airport gave us the passenger’s number and we had to call Syria to get his UAE contact number,” Nasser said.
Such incidents are on the rise and, according to estimates, mishandled baggage costs the global airline industry about $2.5 billion (Dh9.18bn) annually.The figure could double by next year.
“Implementation of Cris technology will cause baggage loss rates to plummet due to a much improved capability for accurate tracking of baggage,” said Dr Greene.
Cris is being installed at Boston’s Logan Airport. Inkode will also be running a pilot scheme at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
EMIRATES TODAY
Dubai - Taxi terror pair given five years
Dubai - May 30: Two men were sentenced to five years in prison yesterday after they were convicted of kidnapping a female student and sexually molesting her during a horrific five-hour taxi ordeal. The incident occurred after the 21-year-old phoned an unlicenced taxi driver to get a lift to Muraqabat.
When the car arrived for her, she was shocked to find a passenger already in the vehicle, but was eventually reassured by the driver and got in. However, instead of driving her to the required destination, they drove out to Al Ain Road, where the male passenger began to rip her clothes off and beg her to have sex with him.
The victim struggled and tried to jump out of the car. One of the men grabbed her to prevent her leaving, but a another motorist saw the door open with the woman’s leg sticking out and so began to give chase. The tearful student told the court: “They both molested me for five hours after taking off my clothes and I opened the car willing to jump because I couldn’t do anything.” The men will be deported after serving their sentences.
SEVEN DAYS