NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

School Fee Dispute - Parents Carry on with Their Campaign

DUBAI - FEB. 12: Disgruntled parents have stepped up their campaign to block a fee increase at an Indian-curriculum private school here, brandishing a survey yesterday showing that most of them were unwilling to pay the new fees, which are set to increase by 90 per cent over the next two years.

“The vast majority of parents do not accept this new structure and are not prepared to pay,” said Ray Chaudhuri, a member of a parent committee that held a press conference yesterday in Dubai.

Global Education Management Systems (Gems), the owner of Dubai Modern High School (DMHS), maintains that it was forced to raise its fees to finance a move to a new campus after being evicted by the current landowner, whom it has declined to name. The increase was approved by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the agency that regulates school fees in Dubai, after reducing it from 110 per cent.

Parents are asking the company to freeze the increase until after the next academic year, which starts in April, saying they were not given enough advance notice to make other arrangements for their children.

“They should have given us some time at least,” said Priya Bhatia, who has two children at the school. “What they are doing it is not right. If they had to do this they should have informed us.”

Parents are also concerned about health and safety at the new campus since heavy construction is still under way. They want an independent medical body to certify that the new premises are safe.

Gems, which operates 26 schools in the UAE, has not backed down but assured parents that the new site will be complete by April.

Dipen Mehta, a member of the parental committee, said the fee increase was approved “during sunny times” and urged that it be rethought since costs, rents and returns have gone down. Parents also want Gems to pay teachers more competitive salaries, and recommend that school facilities be used for evening and weekend events to generate more income.

Gems issued a statement yesterday, saying that both it and the school “value the views of parents that were expressed today, and continuously engage in dialogue with them’’.

“We recognise the needs of parents and offer financial assistance to families facing special hardship,” it said.

A Gems spokeswoman said, “DMHS has been forced to relocate. The landlord wanted the site back and will not give the school access to it beyond the end of the academic year. Facing the unenviable choice between investing in the construction of a new school or closing DMHS, Gems has aligned future fees with the costs associated with building a new facility in Nad al Sheba.” She added that Gems would “always listen to the concerns of parents”.

More than 900 parents representing at least 1,300 of the school’s nearly 2,300 pupils took part in the survey, which found that families pay an average Dh41,500 per annum on a single child’s education, including the cost of transportation, books and uniforms. Among those who responded, 98 per cent said they were unwilling to pay the new fees. Sixty-four per cent said no fee increase could be justified, and 34 per cent said this particular increase was too large.

Parents say that they are awaiting reply from Gems and the KHDA on a way forward.

“Here they are playing with our children’s future, and we are not going to take it lying down,” Mr Mehta said.

The school was given permission to raise fees after it received an eviction notice at its present campus in Al Wasl, part of the area set to be cleared to make way for the now-postponed Jumeirah Garden City development.

“They lost the land due to the planned real estate development in the area,” said Mohammed Darwish, chief of licensing and customer relations at KHDA.

According to Mr Darwish, Gems was granted permission for the increase based on its business plan for the Dh240m (US$65.3m) relocation, although he said the authority was not in the habit of auditing books to determine profits and losses. “The KHDA does not micromanage private schools in Dubai,’’ he said.

Economy turns firms on to local labour

DUBAI - FEB. 12: Employers are increasingly reluctant to bring more expatriates to the UAE, preferring to tap the existing pool of newly redundant workers falling victim to the global recession, according to corporate headhunters.

“Dubai has created its own pool of candidates so employers don’t need to dip into the UK or foreign services,” said Andrew McNeilis, the managing director of Talent 2. “Companies want people who are already here now.”

In an interview, he emphasised the advantage in employing people who understood the cultural landscape and had experienced life in the Middle East.

“Companies don’t want to take someone on who could come here and not like it and leave again soon after,” he said, or who would come simply to escape the credit crisis and then leave as soon as things eased up. Furthermore, the market is changing as more “very talented” Emirati staff are being moved into jobs that were once held by expatriates.

Mr McNeilis said it did not always follow that a successful employee in another country would be the right person for the job in the Gulf.

“It’s about attitude, aptitude and culture,” he said. “A big part of moving out here is being adaptable to change, being diplomatic and most of all, being resilient. Previously in Dubai, the challenge was coping with the rapid growth and not about getting the right kind of talent.

“Quality came second after filling positions. Because of that there were many expensive mistakes made. Now, things are changing rapidly again, and the employer can afford to be far more choosy.”

Before, he said, “job hopping” was widespread, and employees would rarely see a job through from start to finish, especially in the building sector. Many construction projects have seen as many as three or four project managers during the building process.

This, he said, fostered a less loyal and more fluctuating workforce.

“Expats here have less choice now and are having to look at other countries in the Gulf which they would not have considered in the past, such as Saudi Arabia,” Mr McNeilis said.

While Talent 2 is placing 30 per cent fewer people in the UAE, it has seen a 10 per cent rise in the wider GCC, he said.

Many made redundant in the UAE will be redeployed around the region over the next five months.

“It’s much easier now to recruit in countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,” Mr McNeilis said. “Bahrain for example is more developed than the UAE in this respect, and they have a more measured employment process.”

With offices around the region, including Oman and Qatar, Talent 2 will soon be opening in Saudi Arabia and Iran in response to the growing demands for higher quality staff. As for the UAE, companies appear to be seeking alternative motivators since the money has dried up in Dubai.

“There were never any career development plans and retention packages,” Mr McNeilis said. “Previously, employees’ main concern was being able to leave as and when they wanted. But now, they are increasingly seeking the reassurance of a solid retention package.”

Companies are implementing better systems of performance management, he said.

Rewards systems and career development will play a larger role in making the most of the staff that has been retained.

“Up until now,” Mr McNeilis said, “the development here has been about ideas. Now, it’s about the execution of these ideas, which will require a whole different kind of talent.

“The market has changed so much that I don’t know why it’s such a surprise to everyone that there have been so many redundancies.”

The current recession, he said, is not a crisis but rather a case of regrouping for what is essentially a young, inexperienced job market.

Every market experiencing such rapid growth, he said, will inevitably “plateau” and consolidate.

“This marketplace has never been here before,” he said. “They’ll probably have around six to 12 tough months and during this period will just need to diversify their products. The exciting thing is what’s next.”

Abu Dhabi, he said, will drive the recruitment market now with much of its investment being in its infrastructure.

“It’s more measured investment in Abu Dhabi,” Mr McNeil said. “That in turn attracts a different kind of person in the recruitment world. It has a different growth line. In the next 18 months, the emirate will come into its own in its demand for high calibre talent. It has some really exciting projects so can afford to be choosy about who it picks.

“Dubai is a phenomenal achievement, but you have to ask what’s next.”

Capital’s taxi regulatory body to revise fares today

ABU DHABI - FEB. 12: TransAD today will announce new taxi fares.

Abu Dhabi’s taxi rates are the lowest in the Gulf region, according to the taxi regulator. The meter for a standard silver taxi starts at Dh2.60 (US$. 71) and increases by 65 fils per kilometre. Fares are slightly higher at night.

In Dubai, meters start at Dh3 during the day, or Dh3.50 at night, and then increases by Dh1.60.

Fares for Abu Dhabi’s gold and white cabs, which are slowly being phased out and will be off roads by 2012, are unlikely to change.

TransAD introduced its new general manager, Abdullah Sultan al Sabbagh, yesterday. Mr al Sabbagh is formerly the executive director of Cars Group of Companies, which operates taxis around the UAE, including Abu Dhabi. He was appointed to the position by Abdullah Rashid al Otaiba, the chairman of the Department of Transport, and replaces Khalid al Rashedi, who oversaw the introduction of the silver taxi service to the emirate in Nov 2007.

So far the regulator has set out new rules and regulations, made a plan to phase out the old gold and white cabs and bring in silver taxis, set up a taxi inspection system and created an inspection manual for both old and new taxis.

TransAD also created a complaints procedure and in November launched the first phase of a new tracking and dispatch system.

At the start of the year there were more than 3,000 of the silver cabs operating in the emirate. Eventually there will be more than 7,000.

Workers head back to school

UAE - FEB. 12: Increasing numbers of people are returning to schools and universities in the UAE to improve their employment prospects in the face of job losses and growing demands from employers, school directors say.

One beneficiary is the Berlitz language school in Abu Dhabi, which, according to its director, Manal Mahshi, has seen a big increase in demand for Arabic lessons.

“There is also a continuous increase in companies sending their staff for English-language training as part of the professional development requirements,” she said.

Manipal University at Dubai International Academic City has seen a significant increase this month over the same time last year in the number of MBA applicants, according to the MBA director, Balasubramani Ramjee. Some were seeking a career change, he said, and others an opportunity to move up the career ladder.

“I’ve been through about three recessions, and education doesn’t really suffer,” Mr Ramjee said.

“People have to prepare during these times. Financially, it’s difficult to fund studies, but it’s a commitment to your own future.”

All of the February newcomers were studying part-time while working in full-time jobs, he said.

At the Dubai campus of Heriot-Watt University, based in Scotland, there has been a 40 per cent increase in MBA enrolment, said the programme’s director, Shirin Jarrar. The students, who study on weekends, come from Abu Dhabi and from as far away as Kuwait and Bahrain.

Employees were trying to broaden their options in terms of opening up new career paths, Ms Jarrar said, as well as making themselves more valuable to their employers as redundancies loomed.

Many of the students were already top-level managers in finance, engineering and other professional fields, Ms Jarrar said, but are increasingly insecure in their jobs in the UAE, once considered a haven for such people.

“Employers are scaling back,” she said, “and the employees need to both enhance their chance of progressing up the career ladder as well as preparing themselves if they have to move on.”

A significant number, she said, were looking for a complete career change, abandoning the mindset that a career had to be for life.

One student, working as a personal assistant in Abu Dhabi, has just started her MBA in operations management at Manipal University, commuting to Dubai twice a week to study. Almost all of her 50 fellow students in the two-year, part-time course also have full-time jobs; at Dh50,000 (US$13,600) the course costs as much as some new cars and would be impossible for many to afford without a job.

A financial analyst in Abu Dhabi said she recently began a master’s course in marketing in Dubai. “The financial sector is in big trouble now,” he said, “and it would be silly to not think about the possibility of losing my job. We all could.

“I’m using this time as something positive to just re-evaluate my career. With marketing, I can apply that to many business sectors and will not be as limited as I am now. I can use it to remain in the financial sector where my experience lies, or go into something totally new.”

Dubai tenants take up rental bargain bonanza

ABU DHABI - FEB. 12: Dubai residents are moving house to take advantage of rental bargains in the city, estate agents said yesterday.

Tenants who were previously reluctant to change homes due to a shortage of accommodation, and a lack of rent caps in new contracts, are now seeking better deals as their leases near expiry.

Some are even willing to walk out on existing contracts and sacrifice deposits in exchange for homes that have become cheaper since the completion of thousands of apartments in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, International City and Discovery Gardens.

“People are moving from one part of the city to the other, especially those who rented at prices very much above current market rates,” said Rose-Marie Kilzi, the leasing director of Great Properties, a Dubai-based estate agent.

“They are looking around about two to three months before the contract expires to see if they can find something cheaper.”

Camilla van der Merwe, head of leasing at the property services firm Asteco Dubai, said numerous tenants nearing the end of their leases are contacting the company in search of bargains, while those in no hurry to move are waiting for a further dip in prices.

Although there is no statistical proof that rents in Dubai have declined this year, a recent Asteco report found that rates for flats and villas remained unchanged over the past three months of 2008.

A comparison of prices between Dubai’s rental index, which is based on figures for last year, and those advertised now reveals a difference of up to 30 per cent in areas such as Arabian Ranches, Dubai Marina and Discovery Gardens.

Liz O’Connor, the director of residential sales and leasing at Better Homes, said the lower end of Dubai’s rental market has shown the most activity this year. Non-freehold areas such as Qusais, Bur Dubai and Satwa have held their rental values, she said.

“Many tenants are downsizing as a result of pay cuts or accommodation allowances being reduced or cancelled,” she said.

“There also seem to be fewer families coming into Dubai. We are seeing a higher demand for studio, one and two bedrooms as opposed to three, four and five bedrooms.”

Some residents are following a different strategy, moving to bigger homes in newer areas of the city to take advantage of depressed prices, said Myles Bush, director of PowerHouse Properties.

“Six months ago we had two-bedroom Springs villas at Dh180,000 to Dh190,000. You can now get one at Dh140,000,” he said.

Ms Kilzi said a client had moved from a one-bedroom flat in Jumeirah Beach Residence worth Dh120,000 to an apartment in Al Barsha that was twice as big, but only Dh15,000 more. The client is sharing her new home with a work colleague and saving about Dh50,000 per year on rent.

David Hammett, a Briton living in Bur Dubai, said he had wanted to move nearer his place of work at Dubai Internet City, but had been put off by last year’s rents.

“I’ve found a two-bedroom flat in Jumeirah Lakes Towers for Dh117,000 and I’m keen to move, but I’ve paid for my current place until late April,” he said. “I just hope those prices are still available then.”

Despite the slowdown in rental inflation, housing officials in Dubai said the emirate still offered good rental returns of seven to 10 per cent of the value of the property, compared to two to three per cent in other countries, he said.

“There will be a correction but it won’t go to two to three per cent,” said Marwan bin Ghalita, chief executive of the Real Estate Regulatory Agency.

Meanwhile, Mr Bush said the leasehold market has continued to be active, despite the fall in new arrivals to the emirate. Only 88,432 residency visas were issued in last month, compared to 93,957 in January 2008.

People were more likely to rent property than to buy due to falling house prices and the difficulty in securing mortgages. Villas on the Palm Jumeirah that were up to Dh16 million six months ago are now valued at about Dh7m, said Mr Bush.

“The last few months have been pure rentals,” he said.

UAE refuses extradition for Dh28.5m fraud suspect

DUBAI - FEB. 12: An Egyptian businessman being held by police will not be deported to face theft inquiries in his home country until fraud allegations involving more than Dh28.5m against him in the UAE have been fully investigated, the attorney general said yesterday.

Essam Eissa al Humaidan issued a statement confirming that Nabeel Ali al Boushi was wanted for alleged offences “that constitute criminal offences in the country” and was “concurrently wanted by the Egyptian authorities on charges relating to circulating and investing funds in securities trading activities against the Egyptian law”.

Mr Boushi was arrested at Dubai airport on Feb 2 after two investors in the UAE accused him of writing bad cheques for a total of Dh28.5 million (US$7.7m). One was an Emirati woman, the other an Egyptian based in Dubai. Mr Boushi is alleged to have promised them lucrative returns on market investments.

A third alleged victim of the owner of Optima Global Holdings has emerged, accusing Mr Boushi of writing a bad cheque for Dh500,000, according to police. Although Egypt has requested Mr Boushi’s extradition, Mr Humaidan said, “the accused will be handed over to the Egyptian authorities only after UAE case files are closed either after payment, the case is waived, or the accused stands trial”.

If Mr Boushi went to trial and was found guilty, “the sentence must be carried out and the jail time done” before the extradition request would be considered.

The Dubai Court of Appeal would decide whether the extradition should go ahead. That decision would be open to appeal.

In Egypt, Mr Boushi is accused of stealing US$37m (Dh136m) from people, including media and sport figures, after allegedly assuring them of a 40 per cent return on investments in securities, bonds and stocks in regional and international markets.

Tweetering on the internet’s cutting edge

DUBAI - FEB. 12: You could be excused for dismissing it as another social messaging toy for geeky teenagers, but then a pithy message from Barack Obama pops up on your screen and, admit it, you are impressed.

Twitter is the latest internet phenomenon sweeping around the world like some benign pandemic.

Part of its attraction is that it is simple to operate. Very simple. Users register with the Twitter website then can share short messages of under 140 characters via their mobile phone or computers. And they can choose to receive updates from other users they find interesting. Celebrity twitterers include Mr Obama, Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, Britney Spears, the pop singer, and Demi Moore, the actress.

Last year registered membership worldwide grew 752 per cent, to 4.4 million users.

Originally conceived as a social networking tool, it came of age during the attacks in Mumbai last November when people caught up in the horror used it to get news out to friends as it happened. It is also becoming increasingly popular with businesses who use it to communicate with customers.

In the UAE, usage has mushroomed since the Twitter website was unblocked by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in August last year. The UAE now has the Arab world’s biggest number of Twitter users, with 510 “twitterers” sending or “tweeting” updates, known as “tweets”, according to research by the Dubai-based public relations agency Spot On.

“It’s the great equaliser and it’s helping to level the playing field,” said Carrington Malin, Spot On’s managing director. “The internet was supposed to give everyone the same access to the same information and knowledge. Twitter really helps bring this down to the lowest common denominator because it is so easy to use. You don’t need specialist knowledge, all you do is swap 140-character messages. It’s a network. It’s not much different from a telephone or meeting people at a party.”

Tonight it will demonstrate how it can be used as a force for good, when more than 100 UAE Twitterers converge on Dubai as part of a global volunteer-run event inspired by the technology that is predicted to raise more than US$1 million (Dh3.67m) for charity.

UAE Twitter users represent 28 per cent of the total number of users in Arab countries and almost half the number of users in the GCC states and the number of UAE users is growing by 27 per cent each month.

Yet the service was unobtainable in the UAE until last August when it became one of about 1,000 websites to be unblocked by the TRA after it implemented a new internet access management policy, said Mohammed Gheyath, the TRA’s executive director of technology development affairs. The new strategy allowed UAE internet users to contact ISPs with feedback about individual websites.

“In the UAE there are a lot of people who are familiar with Twitter from elsewhere in the world, so relatively soon after Twitter was unblocked here there was a mass movement of these informed people on to it,” said Mr Mahin. “The UAE’s whole internet market is different from those of other Arab countries. The internet has been around here for much longer and people have multiple connections at work, at home and on the move.”

Twitter users in the UAE can be divided into three groups, said Prashant Gulati, a 38-year-old investor and Twitter user, who helped organise the first Dubai Twitter meet-up, or “tweetup”, last month.

“The first group are completely geeky and use it to chat about the latest technology,” he said. “Then there are youngsters discussing teenage stuff. And the rest are very interesting people sharing links to great news stories or blog posts online.”

For the Dubai-based hi-tech entrepreneur Baher al Hakim, 27, what began as aimless dabble in a new technology has become the driving force behind his business.

“For me, Twitter started off for fun but it ended up being the best thing ever for business,” said the Syrian founder of CloudAppers.com. “I have got 80 per cent of my business so far from Twitter-developed connections.”

Mr Hakim is followed by 1,707 people who choose to receive the tweets he sends out. He himself follows 1,509 other Twitterers, who he selects based on his interests and social circle. He has sent 6,689 tweets since joining Twitter.