NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL/GULF TODAY/WAM
40 truck drivers face deportation
DUBAI - AUG 21: DUBAI Traffic Police have cancelled 64 driving licences since the beginning of this year for jumping red signal, and confiscated 1,118 for exceeding 24 Black Points.
At the same time however, the police have allowed payment of traffic fines in installments "by the motorists fined in absentia and of over Dhs1,500," according to the Deputy Director of General Department of Traffic, Major Saif Mohair Al Mazroui.
On cancellation of licences, he said that 40 were of big trucks, while 24 were of light vehicles. "All but one was male, and the majority were Asians."
The police turned tougher. They confiscated 1,118 of those who have either attained the 24 Black Points or have highly exposed themselves and other motorists to danger by driving recklessly.
He mentioned the nationalities of some of the culprits saying that "794 of these were Pakistanis; 180 were Indians and 38 nationals."
Saif said that there are some 272 cases of licences whose warrants of confiscation have been issued. Again, "106 are of Pakistanis; 50 Indians, and 41 nationals."
Deportation
Saif said that "We have an order of deportation of truck drivers who jump red signals. We have already submitted their cases to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)."
He added that the police have a number of officers stationed at different points in the roads of the Emirate to note a driver who jumps the signal.
Installment
The Traffic chief, however, sounded a little bit soft to motorists who can accumulate fines in absentia by saying that they are allowed to pay in installment. He gave an exception of the beneficiaries as only United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals and holders of residence visa.
"This applies to those whose fine exceeds Dhs1,000," he said adding that one has to begin with a 30 per cent payment, ad then "we agree on the timetable for paying the balance."
GULF TODAY
Dubai Airports T3 to start operation on Oct.14
DUBAI - AUG 21: A PHASED transition of operations to Dubai International's new Terminal 3 will start from Oct.14. The 'soft' opening will be implemented in four phases, to ensure that systems and processes are working to the highest standards of efficiency, enabling customers to make their way through the facility as easily and speedily as possible.
The Emirates Airline-dedicated terminal is currently undergoing operational readiness trials to ensure that customers have an unmatched experience, whether arriving, departing or in transit.
Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Airports, said that Terminal 3 and the associated development represent a much needed expansion of Dubai's aviation infrastructure. The new facility will play an important role in supporting Dubai's economic progress, and reaffirm the city's image as an emerging global aviation hub.
Reiterating that Terminal 3 will be made fully operational in a phased approach, Dubai Airports CEO, Paul Griffiths, said: "Raising customer service standards at Dubai International is at the heart of our strategy. We want to make absolutely sure that all the systems and processes at Terminal 3 are working smoothly and that customers experience nothing short of world-class facilities and service when they use the new Terminal. It is precisely for this reason that we have decided to make Terminal 3 fully operational in phases."
"We are also conducting a series of operational readiness trials at Terminal 3 and its airside facility as a run-up to the 'soft' opening in October," he added.
Dubai Airports conducted the first major operational trial, involving over 2,000 volunteers, on Aug. 9. Some 6,000 volunteers will participate in similar trials scheduled to be conducted later this month and at the end of September.
GULF TODAY
Weather to be usual till mid-September
SHARJAH - AUG 21: METEOROLOGISTS are not expecting any drastic change in the local weather conditions till mid-September as the temperatures in Sharjah continued at a maximum of 45°C.
In Sharjah, temperatures continued at 45°C since the past couple of days with clear sky and often hazy atmosphere. Weather forecasters said this is a very common phenomenon during summer days and "nothing unusual is expected to happen in the next few days."
"It is hot and August will continue to be hot till mid-September when temperatures come down paving the way for a cooler winter season in the region," they said.
"Temperature in Dubai was comparatively lower than Sharjah, maximum 43.6°C. It is expected to keep an average of above 40°C plus in the next few days," forecasters said. Humidity was also balanced in Dubai.
The temperatures of Gulf water remained at 33°C as smaller fishes sought asylum in the cooler waters of the Arabia Sea. This forced fish prices very high, especially for certain varieties of fish. The temperatures could go as high as 34-35°C in some places.
Internet forecasting and temperatures in the UAE weather sites, have been different. The forecasting is very low compared to the actual measurements from UAE airports. It is often five to eight degrees lower than the actual temperatures in cities.
The next five days in Dubai is forecast at an average of 32-34°C in one site in the net. But forecasters say "it is summer and we expect over 40°C in the coming days."
GULF TODAY
Dubai Municipality project gives beaches a facelift
Dubai - Aug 20: Dubai Municipality's Environment Department is currently undertaking an ambitious project to rejuvenate beaches of the emirate as part of an integrated and continuous programme to be undertaken under the auspices of the Coastal Management Section.
Director of Environment Department Eng. Hamdan Al Shaer said the municipality is giving a facelift to the emirate's beaches with the objective of improving the coastal environment as part of the emirate's strategy with regard to environment conservation.
"Beaches are subject to seasonal Shamal winds that deprive them of vital resources needed, especially in view of the re-formation of the coastal line. As the time passes by, this will result in loss of beach sands and emergence of rocks and stones thereby causing the beachgoers to lose the comfort and security. This matter requires maintenance and nourishing the beaches in a scientific and well-planned manner that would provide maximum stability and continuity," he said.
Al Shaer noted that Dubai Municipality attaches special concern for the public beaches given their soaring popularity with residents and visitors of Dubai as they are considered a place to unwind for families and individuals. The beaches in Dubai are calm where people can enjoy privacy. In addition, there are enough parking spaces and a good road net-work.
In this regard, the department has already restored the Jumeira 3 Beach, Umm Suqeim 1 Beach and the Al Mamzar Park Beach, all of which were supplied with 600,000 cubic meters of high-quality beach sand.
Head of Coastal Management Section Alya Abdul Rahim said the section had begun restoration works for Jumeira 3 Beach. The works of this project started by restoring the 800 metre long rock breakwater that is parallel to the beach. As this has not been designed basically to provide beach space, more rock layers have been added so as to prevent erosion of beach sand.
"Furthermore, this beach has been nourished by some half million cubic meters of clean beach sand," she said, pointing out that the Jumeira 3 Beach has been almost deserted by the visitors due to dirty sands that were dotted with rocks and stones. Moreover, water used to clog behind the breakwater during high tide. Following the restoration works, visitors began to throng this beach", she said.
Abdul Rahim added that currently work is going on in order to fix the southern side of the Umm Suqeim 1 coastal line as 70 per cent works of constructing a vertical sand barrier have been completed along a 120 meter stretch. The objective of this barrier is to prevent sand erosion and preserve the beach which has been now nourished with some 40,000 cubic meters of beach sand.
On the method of constructing the sand barrier at Umm Suqeim, she said an advanced method is being followed in setting up this type of structures in which Australian-made _fibre geotextile_ containers are used. These containers would be filled with sand, which would then weigh up to five tonnes, and they are used instead of big-size rocks. This would do away with a sore sight and offer an appropriate place where some marine creatures can grow.
Abdul Rahim noted that the Coastal Management Section has also completed restoration works of the Beach at Al Mamzar Park which is now receiving a large number of visitors. This beach has been nourished with more than 30,000 cubic metres of sand as the beach was subject to large-scale erosion due to some natural factors.
She explained that the maintenance and beach nourishment works are progressing as per a flexible time-plan in which coastal areas have been divided into multiple sectors. Maximum care is taken not to cause any inconvenience to people living nearby, especially as most of the entrances to the beaches pass through residential areas. "Success of this project clearly shows the significance of following up the decree no. 22/2001 issued by the Ruler's Court pertaining to protection of coastal areas in the Emirate of Dubai, particularly as the sand used in beach nourishment is of superb quality and it comes from excavation works in the coastal region.
The Coastal Management Section, meanwhile, has introduced some measure to control vehicular movement on Jumeira and Umm Suqeim beaches by placing barricades and has specified some areas for parking the vehicles. Alya noted that this step is aimed at ensuring safety of beachgoers and providing a comfortable and peaceful environment for them.
WAM/MN
‘Breakthrough’ desalination system could benefit UAE
ABU DHABI - AUG 21: Dubai has tested a “breakthrough” water-purification system that suggests it is possible to extract drinkable water from the Gulf without hazardous waste.
The advance could solve a seawater desalination dilemma shared worldwide: what to do with the harmful brine by-product that is ordinarily dumped back into the sea?
“This is the key to the entire desalination pollution problem everywhere,” said Martin Padisak, who brought the technology to the UAE. “The UAE is one of the most promising countries to use it.”
Mr Padisak, the chairman of the German-based environmental research firm IES Technology, has been negotiating with local private companies over the past year. He said he was within weeks of developing the waste-brine recycling systems in the capital as well as in Dubai.
“It’s ready to go,” he said. “We are finalising some deals in the private sector and hope we will be launching the project very soon in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The UAE will be the first to use this process.”
The Government-owned MED desalination plant in Ajman tested whether the “zero-discharge” design could recycle the hyper-concentrated brine left over after the desalination process.
“The brine samples came to us and we analysed them,” said Buthaina Ahmed, the head of the environment lab at Dubai Central Laboratory.
The Food and Environment section’s chemical analysis report, obtained by The National, certified the samples from Ajman were processed in late April.
In an email, the Middle East Desalination Research Centre also confirmed it was aware of IES Technology’s claims, calling the advancement “technically feasible”. However, K Venkat Reddy, the senior researcher, said in the email the “economic viability depends on the requirements of the client. If environmental regulations are very stringent, it is feasible.”
The Dubai company Alta Alouf Investment Development, which conducted the commercial and technical feasibility studies, found the technology “very reasonable”.
“It could be workable around the world,” said Ismael Bitar, the firm’s general manager. “There is a big American energy company that is very interested in making a chain of these units for its desalination plant.”
GCC nations and other arid regions facing scarce water supplies have increasingly turned to desalination, which turns seawater into drinkable water.
However, the energy and ecological costs have been criticised by environmental groups. The US Environmental Protection Agency considers the saline, which is flushed back into the sea, as “industrial waste” that is harmful to sensitive marine ecosystems.
However, Mr Padisak said IES had succeeded in recycling even the waste brine. By boosting the salt concentration further to the point of crystallisation, raw dry minerals such as gypsum, potassium, magnesium and table salt would materialise, he said.
“The benefit is nothing would go to waste. We took that waste brine and produced more drinking water from it as well as the valuable minerals,” he said. “Until now, there was no technology to stop this brine from polluting the seawater.”
Scientists were previously unable to raise the concentration of the brine during desalination due to the high calcium content in seawater. However, Mr Padisak said through an ion exchange process developed by IES, “we broke the calcium barrier, which makes the rest of the process a piece of cake”.
Abdelhedi Taofik, an engineer who conducted the feasibility study for Alta Alouf Investment Development, said scientists had long discussed the concept of 100 per cent waste-free desalination systems. “This is the first time to use a zero-discharge system in the industrial field,” he said.
A paper published in April from the University of Karlsruhe, a leading research university in Germany, cites the IES design as one potential example of a commercially viable zero-discharge system. “Because of the immense ecological advantages of such systems, the developments should be carefully watched and research efforts for an effective and cost-efficient design should be intensified,” it said.
Mr Padisak would not name any of the private investors in negotiations with IES, but the company’s Dubai partner, Smart Creative, said contractors for the Masdar company were interested.
The Middle East is the world’s largest desalination market, accounting for more than half of the total volume of desalinated water. Consumption of water in the UAE is 907 cubic metres a year per capita, making the Emirates one of the largest consumers of water in the world.
THE NATIONAL