NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE :THE NATIONAL/WAM
Three killed and 11 injured in Dubai road accident
DUBAI - FEB. 09: Three people were killed and 11 others seriously injured in an accident on the Dubai-Lahbab Road this morning.
Dubai police said the accident, which happened at about 8am, involved a mini bus carrying 14 passengers, who are believed to be labourers, and a 4x4 Kia.
Police said the driver of the 4x4 changed lanes and hit the bus, causing it to overturn and hit a metal barrier before being thrown on to the other side of the road.
"Three people were killed and 11 others are in serious condition and have been taken to Rashid Hospital," a police spokesman said.
Witnesses said that the bodies of victims had been lying on the road.
"There was blood everywhere. Other motorists were diverting traffic as they waited for the police and ambulance to arrive," said a witness who was driving to work at the time of the accident.
Officials at Rashid Hospital said that two men died on the spot while the third died on arrival. At least seven of the 11 injured men are in critical condition.
In another fatal crash at about the same time this morning, an Arab man died after he drove through a red light on Al Khail roundabout heading in the direction of Al Barsha. The man, who was driving a saloon car, died at the scene, police said. No other vehicles were thought to have been involved in that crash.
Bus drivers urged to use crossing points
DUBAI - FEB. 09: Hundreds of labourers are hit by cars every year while jaywalking, a number Dubai Police are hoping to drastically reduce with a new public awareness campaign.
There were 132 people killed in 2007 and 106 last year after they were hit by cars on the road. In the industrial area of Al Quoz alone, 81 people were run over.
According to police statistics, 358 Indians, 111 Pakistanis and 57 Bangledeshis were hit by cars last year while on foot. Those nationalities make up most of the labour population, which is the number one group involved in pedestrian accidents.
As part of the Cross Safely project, police are urging bus drivers to take responsibility for dropping the labourers off at designated pedestrian crossing points, so that they can cross safely and are not forced to jaywalk, police said yesterday.
Traffic police plan to target 365 contracting and construction companies as part of their information campaign and hope to have reached 90 per cent of them by the end of this year. The events department plans to hold Friday lectures in Arabic, English and Urdu on the dangers of jaywalking for employees at 100 construction and contracting companies.
“Most accidents occur in the industrial areas where there is a dense population of labourers and we want ensure that the message reaches them and we aim to target as many as we can at the time when they will be available, which is in the weekend,” said Col Jamal Al Banai, director of the traffic violations follow-up department.
Major Omar Moosa Ashoor, head of the traffic police events department, said labourers will be educated on their rights and safety, and coached on how to refuse to get off at the wrong stops.
“We want labourers to understand and force the driver to drop them off in a safe area,” he said. “They may realise that a friend of theirs died this way and they do not want to take the risk.”
The campaign will also target drivers, who will be monitored and rewarded for exercising skill at the wheel.
Major Ashoor said much of the responsibility for pedestrian deaths on the road belongs to the bus drivers, who tend to drop passengers off where there is no safe way for them to cross the road.
“Bus drivers should understand that if they stop at an area that did not contain a pedestrian crossing then they will be putting the lives of passengers at risk,” he said.
“The bus driver should not stop even at the request of a passenger. We aim that the regulation of labour bus drivers will reach the same level as transport buses that only stops in designated bus stops.”
Mr al Banai said lack of awareness is one of the biggest reasons for pedestrian accidents and deaths.
“Labourers work all week and as the weekend comes many make it out on foot and often without attention, they would make the mistake of crossing from undesignated areas and would put their life at risk,” he said.
Police also called upon the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to make it easier for people to get around the city on foot.
“More pedestrian tunnels and bridges should be built, especially on busy roads such as Sheikh Zayed Road, and more buses should be placed to transport workers around on weekends,” Mr al Banai said.
The RTA plans to install new foot bridges and underpasses by September. A spokesman for the RTA said: “Close to two dozen foot bridges and underpasses will be completed this year. The majority of the metro stations will also have either foot bridges or underpasses.
“Ever since the barriers were put up in between roads on SZR, we have seen a huge reduction of jaywalkers there.”
School stands firm on fee increase
DUBAI - FEB. 09: A Dubai private school informed parents yesterday that there will be no further negotiation on a controversial fee increase.
A fee increase at the Dubai Modern High School totalling 90 per cent over two years has been approved by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai.
Officials from Global Education Management Systems (Gems), which owns the Indian-curriculum high school, met over the weekend with concerned parents. During the meeting, Gems management reiterated that the increase was not negotiable. Parents asked management to reconsider their position and respond within 48 hours.
Parents told Gems management that they plan to take their case to local education authorities, such as the Ministry of Education, the KHDA, the Indian Embassy and Consulate’s educational wing, Indian authorities such as the Ministry of Education in India.
Gems management said yesterday that they would discuss financial concerns with individual parents but they will not reconsider the fee increase.
Parents fighting the higher fees maintain that they will not back down.
“If you close the door and you say there is no negotiation possible, we will take it to the authorities,” one said.
A parent committee will hold a conference on Wednesday to present their position to Gems management and local authorities.
Among the demands of the parent committee is to be provided with an account of Gems’s finances.
“If you say 90 per cent is justified, show us how it is justified,” a parent said. “There is no justification. We have done our numbers and they are not willing to come out with theirs. We asked for the financials of the project, which they refused to give.”
Despite this, parents remain hopeful that Gems management will come around.
“It’s a question of my child’s future,” said the parent. “When we shifted from Delhi it took me five months to prepare my daughter for the change. How can you give a child 15 days notice that you are going to shift schools?”
Arabian Horse Beauty Pageant to be held on Thursday in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi-Feb.9: The Abu Dhabi's first International Championship of the Arabian Horse Beauty Pageant will be held from Feb. 12 to 13, at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club. The event will be held under patronage of Deputy Prime Minister HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Khadeem Abdullah Al Daraei, head of the organising committee said at a press conference held yesterday at the Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club that the contest "is in line with the instructions of our leadership to implant principles of the Arab traditional sports".
He added that to preserve heritage and customs, the Arabian horse sports and the horse beauty pageants have been receiving much attention in the country.
Al Daraei underlined that the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan had "implanted in us originality and Arabism, and also made us to stick to our noble values", citing the preservation of the Arabian horse pedigree as an example.
WAM