NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Hundreds queue for tuition subsidies
Over 300 parents gather in front of the Gems Dubai Modern High School to demand fee concession forms.
DUBAI - FEB. 05:More than 300 parents, angered by a private school’s plan to significantly increase tuition fees, went to the school yesterday to apply for subsidies.
In a letter to parents of pupils at Dubai Modern High School (DMHS) on Tuesday, those “genuinely affected by the current economic downturn” were invited to submit applications for fee concessions.
Dino Varkey, senior director of business development at Global Education Management Systems (Gems), which runs DMHS, said more than 3,200 pupils at the company’s 26 schools receive free or subsidised education.
Gems said last month that it would raise fees at DMHS by 45 per cent from April, and a further 45 per cent increase in the 2010-11 academic year. The company said the higher fees were necessary to pay for its upcoming move to a new Dh240 million (US$65.4m) building near Nad al Sheba.
Many parents have said they were willing to pay a small increase or a larger increase spread over more time. They also have said they were told of the increase too late for them to enrol their children in other Indian-curriculum schools, most of which have closed admissions for the next academic year.
Parents yesterday said they would fill in the fee-concession applications, omitting information about their income, and submit them to a 14-parent committee for presentation to the school management on Sunday.
Where the application asks parents to state “the amount of annual concession sought”, most requested a 90 per cent decrease.
A mother of two, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said submitting the forms was a way to show Gems how many parents were dismayed by the decision to raise fees.
“Even if the company pays my fees, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “It is the principle. This fee increase is not justified. We were not consulted.”
Gems said it was talking with the Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority with a view towards addressing the concerns of parents and looked forward to meeting the parents. A spokesman said: “There is a limit to the support the school can offer but we will endeavour to ensure that genuine needs are met.
“The solutions we can provide are individual and the principal and senior executives are willing to meet individuals. We look forward to meeting parents in order to discuss these individual concerns, but we do not have any group remedies for the current situation.”
But at least one parent of a pupil at Gems said she was already looking elsewhere to educate her other children.
Vineet, who has a daughter in Grade One, said: “I have another child who is too young yet for school and last month they would have been coming here but 100 per cent I am not putting any more of my children in Gems schools again. The decision has been taken, but I am fighting for a case that affects everyone.”
Abu Dhabi injects Dh16bn into emirate's banks
ABU DHABI - FEB. 05: The emirate has injected Dh16 billion (US$4.35bn) of capital into five of the emirate’s biggest banks, joining governments around the world that have provided direct support for lenders wrestling with fallout from the global financial crisis.
“The Government believes that this strategic initiative is an appropriate and proactive response to ensure that the strong confidence in Abu Dhabi’s financial institutions is further enhanced,” said a statement from the Department of Finance.
The capital injections, which were announced after the close of trading on markets on Wednesday, included Dh4bn each for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and First Gulf Bank and Dh2bn each for Union National Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, according to statements by the individual banks.
Analysts said the banks already had considerably larger capital cushions against losses than required. The injections were also born from the government’s wish to adequately equip the banking sector to drive the emirate’s diversification plan outlined in its ambitious 2030 economic development plan. Most of the banks had already set aside money to cover losses on unrecoverable loans.
“They are even supporting banks that are in very good shape,” said Mahdi Mattar, an economist at Shuaa Capital, contrasting the move with those elsewhere designed to rescue deeply troubled lenders. “In the West, the banks were about to fail. The problem here is just liquidity.”
Banks in the Emirates have been buffeted as the global economic crisis hits the region. Their deposits dropped sharply in the second half of last year as foreign investors retreated from the region when the financial crisis took hold. Nearly all lenders also found themselves unable to borrow funds from abroad, with global credit markets frozen. That forced them to cut back on lending at home. Along with a two-thirds decline in oil prices, this has sharply curtailed the economic growth expected for the Gulf this year and sent once-booming property and equity markets into a severe tailspin.
The downturn in the property sector, in particular, has weighed on financial institutions that extended loans to buyers, developers and construction companies. The federal Government has made up to Dh120bn available to banks across the country under several lending programmes to try to boost lending to keep the economy growing. But the rate banks charge each other for loans, known as the Emirates interbank offered rate (Eibor), remains high by historic standards.
Last year, the federal Government took over two major Dubai-based mortgage lenders, Amlak and Tamweel. Yesterday, Sultan al Mansouri, the Minister of Economy, said he would chair a committee that would present recommendations to the Government this month on what to do with the mortgage firms.
The governments of Qatar and Kuwait have made similar moves in recent weeks to shore up banks with additional capital to help them cope with write downs from soured loans and the economic slowdown.
All of the banks that received capital injections are owned in part or controlled by the Government or royal family.
UAE and Abu Dhabi officials have expressed confidence in the economy, noting that it is still expected to grow this year. And the country’s banks have largely steered clear of the credit derivatives and overseas investments that have devastated some international banks.
Analysts said the additional capital would bolster the banks and help them maintain lending, which is crucial to keeping the economy growing through a severe global recession. The injections, which amounted to between two per cent and four per cent of the assets of the individual banks, were in line with infusions of capital in other countries.
“This demonstrates that we are continuing to make progress in terms of the crisis,” said Ali Khan, a director of Arqaam Capital in Dubai. “The big concern is not just deteriorating asset quality but that they’ve also lent everything they can, so they do need additional liquidity because they may be facing potential shortfalls.”
Mr Mattar said he expected the injections to help banks “to provide loans to people who are really creditworthy”.
“I don’t think they are going to go on a lending spree, but at least they are not going to stop,” he said.
The capital injections were accomplished through capital notes paying six per cent interest, which do not dilute the ownership of shareholders in the banks.
Man caught with pigeons in his pants
DUBAI - FEB. 05: An Australian traveller was arrested in Melbourne after a long-haul flight from Dubai when two live pigeons were discovered in his trousers, authorities said yesterday.
Customs officers at Melbourne International Airport decided to body-search the 23-year-old, who has not been named, after they allegedly found two bird eggs in a vitamin container in his pocket during baggage checks on Sunday.
They were unable to say if he started his journey in Dubai or was in transit from another country. The birds were found wrapped in padded envelopes and strapped inside tights that he was wearing beneath his trousers.
“This was quite a unique way of smuggling animals. It’s not something I’ve heard of before,” said Richard Janeczko, a spokesman for the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.
Mr Janeczko said the pigeons were not endangered and that the case – as well as the birds, eggs and some undeclared seeds – had been turned over to the Australian Quarantine Service to assess the health risk associated with bringing the birds into the country.
Australia has some of the world’s toughest laws on importing plants and animals into the country.
Although the man has not yet been formally arrested, he is still being held by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, which is now handling the investigation.
The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service could not be reached for comment.
The maximum penalties for importing wildlife into Australia can be up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 Australian dollars (Dh236,000).
“There are two issues: the first is that as an island continent we have a lot of unique species that have not been exposed to diseases from other parts of the world because they cannot come in by land,” Mr Janeczko said.
“The second is that we have to ensure our animals, especially our chicken industry, are not affected by things like bird flu.”
Mr Janeczko said wildlife smuggling was one of Australia’s main smuggling problems, after drugs and weapons, and that authorities uncovered about 4,000 cases last year.
“In terms of live animals, we probably have about two cases a month. We get people trying to bring exotic snakes, spiders and so on into Australia, and there are also attempts to smuggle marsupials, rare lizards and other Australian species out.”
Others, he added, involved “animal parts like ivory, sea horse powder and bear bile”.
Saeed Mohammed, of the UAE Pigeons Club, said some pedigree birds, bred for racing or for their plumage, could fetch high prices.
“Some birds are worth up to US$2,000 (Dh7,340) and there are people interested in pigeons all over the world,” Mr Mohammed said.
How was your hospital visit, HAAD to ask
ABU DHABI - FEB. 05: About 200,000 people are to receive text messages next week asking them to rate their hospital visits.
The Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD) set up the system with Etisalat to find out what the public thinks about hospital care.
About 140,000 people in Abu Dhabi and 60,000 in Al Ain will get the messages on Sunday. They have until Saturday to dial a code and start the survey, which has seven questions. The survey will be sent to both Emiratis and expatriates and can be answered in English or Arabic.
Ghazal Siddiqi, adviser on satisfaction and monitoring at HAAD, said public health is one of the authority’s main focuses this year. The survey is a starting point for further study.
“We really want people to participate and we want people to know we are committed,” she said.
The survey asks when the respondent’s last hospital visit was, how long it took to get an appointment and how clean the facility was.
“We have made it as simple and straightforward as possible,” Mrs Siddiqi said. “We want to encourage as many responses as possible.”
She said the authority could decide to conduct such assessments quarterly, once the initial results are in and staff have a better idea of what they should ask. In this first stage, respondents are asked to rate only seven government hospitals by name. If they were seen at a private facility, the option is “other”. If most respondents choose “other”, future surveys will focus more on the private sector, Mrs Siddiqi said.
The survey, and technology required to conduct it, took the authority eight months to set up. If successful, the authority wants to install the technology on their in-house server, giving them more information-gathering opportunities.
The survey is voluntary and anonymous. The mobile phone numbers will not be linked to any of the data HAAD receives from Etisalat. HAAD will receive all the responses after the deadline passes.
Mrs Siddiqi said with public health at the forefront of the authority’s work this year, customer satisfaction would play a major role in helping the people choose their hospitals.
The survey is also open to other members of the public who have visited hospitals, by punching in 190# on their mobile phone.
Three people killed in accident at oilfield
ABU DHABI - FEB. 05: Three people were killed and one injured in an oilfield accident yesterday, the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) said.
The incident took place at 8.30am in the Shah oilfield in Al Gharbia, according to Adco, an Adnoc operating unit.
Adnoc officials confirmed the incident had taken place but said they were not aware of its cause.
A committee has been convened to investigate the accident, said Bashir Goth, an Adnoc spokesman. The field had been shut down for maintenance and was not producing any oil when the accident took place. Mr Goth declined to comment on whether the accident would delay completion of the maintenance work.
Emergency response teams from the Shah and nearby Asab oilfield were called in to handle the incident and co-ordinate with Adnoc and other government bodies, the state news agency, WAM, reported.
A team has also been deployed to investigate the cause.
The injured person was taken to hospital for treatment and was in a stable condition last night.
Adco is responsible for producing oil from a number of onshore fields in Abu Dhabi, including the Shah and Asab fields. Its minority shareholders, holding a combined 40 per cent stake, are BP, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Partex.
The Shah field, discovered in 1966, but only developed in 1990-1991, has a crude oil production capacity of 40,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Adnoc recently awarded a US$1.2 billion (Dh4.4bn) contract to Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors to expand the capacity of the Shah field and another nearby oilfield named Sahil to a combined 180,000 bpd.