NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Motorists allowed to pay for early return of confiscated vehicles

ABU DHABI - MAR 10:  Motorists who have committed certain traffic offences can now pay to get their confiscated vehicles back early.

Col Hamad Adil al Shamsi, the head of the Abu Dhabi Police traffic and patrols department, said that under legislation that came into effect yesterday, first-time offenders would pay Dh100 per day of confiscation, while second-time offenders would have to pay Dh200. For third-time offenders, however, there would be no option: the car would be confiscated.

Some motoring offences were excluded from the new rule, he said, and would still result in automatic confiscation. He refused to elaborate and said further details would be announced later this week.

Under federal traffic laws introduced last year, 33 violations result in cars being confiscated for between seven and 60 days. For instance, driving under the influence of alcohol results in 60 days’ confiscation, while reckless driving results in 30 days; jumping a red light results in 15 days and not stopping after causing an accident brings a seven-day confiscation.

Response to the news among motorists was varied.

Dalia Sufian, 25, a media sales manager, whose car has been confiscated twice for 30 days, welcomed the decision and said she would have paid the money if she had had the option when her car was confiscated.

“It is better to have the option to pay, rather than go through the hassle of renting a car. And that doesn’t mean I’ll be less careful on the road, because I don’t want to pay the money anyway.”

Sarah Fakhra, 24, an office manager, backed the decision because of difficulties with public transport. “For example, my house is far from my workplace. It will be a big problem if my car gets confiscated because I can’t rely on public transportation.” She did not think motorists would now be less careful on the road, “because paying money is punishment enough”.

Michael Kakish, 25, a Jordanian sales manager, believed, however, that the new rules would lead to more carelessness.

He said: “People might be less careful on the road because major offences that result in car confiscation will become like any other violations that you can pay money for and get them over with, so it is better to include black points as well.

Shadia Alosh, 50, a Jordanian housewife and mother of four, agreed: “So now people who have money, their cars won’t get confiscated, while the cars of those who don’t have money will be confiscated? This means there is no equality and it is unfair to the less wealthy. It is illogical.”

However, her daughter Dana Dajani, 29, an IT auditor, said: “This is a practical decision especially for working people. Those who have money can pay and release their cars.”

As for safety, she added: “Things are crazy on the road anyway, so it wouldn’t make a difference. Those who want to violate the rules will violate them anyway.”

Muhannad Rafiq, 30, a sales executive whose car was once confiscated for 30 days, said he would pay Dh100 to avoid confiscation, but would not be able to afford the Dh200 for a second offence.

“The option is reasonable, because if your car gets confiscated, you will have to pay to rent one anyway, so it is better to pay to keep your own car.”

Last year, 3,170 confiscated cars were stored at the vehicle compounds in Abu Dhabi and Mafraq, out of which 2,953 were released once the confiscation period was over and their owners had paid their fines.

Col al Shamsi refused to say whether the new legislation was an attempt to reduce overcrowding at vehicle compounds, saying that further details would be revealed later in the week.

Over the past three years, the number of cars on the capital’s roads has grown by 49 per cent and the number of new drivers’ licences issued by 16 per cent. The number of vehicles increased from 392,546 in 2006 to 583,015 in 2008, while drivers’ licences over the same period increased from 581,179 to 676,660.

Sales manager denies making Dh17m in fraudulent land deals

DUBAI - MAR 10: A former Dubai Industrial City sales manager accused of charging clients almost Dh17 million in illegal commissions and said he deserved the money pleaded not guilty in a court yesterday.

The defendant, AZ, a 32-year-old Emirati, appeared before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance charged with misappropriating public funds.

He allegedly charged eight clients extra commissions on a number of sale and rental agreements for land belonging to Dubai Industrial City, a member of Tatweer, Dubai’s state-owned property developer, that was set up on 560 million sq ft of land to help spur industrial growth.

The vice president of Dubai International City, RA, alleged in his testimony that the defendant received as much as Dh30m in illegal payments from clients between when he started his job in June 2006 and when he was fired in July 2007 following an internal audit.

Prosecutors did not say why he was charged with misappropriating only Dh17m.

The defendant allegedly lied to clients that there were no more plots of land available, and that he could arrange for them to acquire ones already owned or rented by other people, but that they would have to pay the current landlords a premium. In reality, however, the plots had not been previously sold or rented.

“Although most clients know [Dubai Industrial City] policy, which forbids reselling or subleasing plots, they still went ahead with these transactions,” RA told prosecutors.

The executive added that AZ returned Dh800,000 he illegally took from a client on his last sale before he was released by the company.

The defendant is alleged to have deposited the illegal commissions into a bank account of a company registered in the names of his mother and sister.

One of his clients, identified as TK from Denmark, testified that the defendant asked for an extra Dh1.9m to purchase three plots of land at the development.

He confirmed that TK told him the money was a commission for the previous owners of the plots. He also said he had asked who they were, but AZ told him they did not wish to reveal their identities.

In his statement to prosecutors, the defendant said he deserved the commissions because he had generated Dh200m worth of business for the company through his personal contacts.

The judge adjourned the case until March 19 to allow the defence time to call witnesses and prepare its case.

Expats miss their ID cards deadline

DUBAI - MAR 10: Up to half of the expatriate professionals who were meant to have registered for a government identity card by the end of last month have still not done so.

An estimated 400,000 white-collar expatriates, defined by the Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) as anyone with a university degree, were meant to have registered for the biometric ID card by February 28. That date was set when it became clear that tens of thousands would miss the original deadline of December 31, 2008.

Thamer al Qasemi, the planning director for Eida, yesterday said around 200,000 white-collar expatriates had applied for the card, although some would not get an appointment at one of the Eida registration centres until later this year.

“The flow of registrations has improved – it has been a learning curve and we have learnt from what happened before,” he said.

“People are more committed now, and I think we can continue to register professionals as well as the category we have called forward at this stage. We had 90,000 people register in February, which is the highest number so far, and I think that is a sign that things are progressing well.”

According to a schedule released in December, the Eida plans to register all expatriate residents for the cards in four groups, depending on their jobs.

Since March 1, it has asked administrative workers in the private sector, including hotel employees, shop staff and secretaries, to register. On June 20, it will begin to register unskilled workers, including housemaids, fishermen, drivers and security guards, and then in October start registering the millions of unskilled construction workers in the UAE.

Expatriates have been warned that failure to register could result in access being denied to government services, including health care, and to their bank accounts, although government departments can use their discretion to continue offering services to residents without an ID card until the end of 2010.

Emirati citizens, who have had more than a year to register, were supposed to have all received their cards by January 1 this year, although it was later announced they would not incur a fine for not having one until April 1. Failure to produce a card when requested after that date could result in a fine of up to Dh1,000 (US$272). Expatriates will not face fines until the end of 2010.

Mr al Qasemi said that around 750,000 citizens had registered so far. The Eida originally estimated there were about 825,000 Emiratis living in the UAE, meaning that around 75,000 would still need to register in the next three weeks if they were to avoid a fine.

Mr al Qasemi has repeatedly warned that the figures used to estimate the population of the various categories were based on data from a number of government departments, and may not represent the true population of the UAE.

“This is part of the reason for introducing the population register, so the Government has access to accurate information about who is here,” he said.

However, he said he had little sympathy for Emirati citizens who were late in registering and who now ran the risk of being fined.

“The locals who are coming forward now are considered to be less committed and in violation of the law,” he said. “I don’t see any reason to give them another extension.”