NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Dubai authorities may require medical tests for some motorists

DUBAI - MAY 29: Elderly motorists, drivers with health problems and bus and taxi drivers in Dubai could be required to pass a medical test before they get their licences, under proposals being discussed by transport and health officials.

Talks are under way to establish mandatory health tests for certain categories of motorists, including professional drivers, lorry drivers and those with medical conditions that could pose a risk on roads.

“The idea is to link the renewal of a driver licence with the production of a medical certificate to prove their fitness to drive,” said Ahmed Bahrouzian, chief executive of the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) licensing agency.

He said the talks between the RTA and the Dubai Health Authority were at a very early stage, but could lead to a change in the law that would make Dubai’s roads safer.

The two sides are weighing which categories of motorists, and which specific health conditions, pose the greatest risks to safety.

Mr Bahrouzian said when drivers in certain categories renew their licences, they could be required to produce a medical certificate that says, for example, “although they are 60 or 70 years old, medically, they are still able to drive”.

Drivers who suffer from blackouts, heart conditions or epileptic fits could be among those who need to undergo regular check-ups, Mr Bahrouzian said.

The health checks could also apply to all drivers of public-transport vehicles, he said.

Currently, motorists who renew their licences are under no legal requirement to declare a health condition that may put them and others in danger.

This puts Dubai at odds with practices in many cities in Europe and the US.

“There are some countries in the world where medical practitioners are required by law to declare cases of their patients where they are fit or not fit for driving and that does not exist in Dubai,” Mr Bahrouzian said.

Simon Labbett, regional director for the Transport Research Laboratory, a UK-based consultancy, said most European countries ask motorists for medical certificates before approving their licence applications.

“It does have an impact on road fatalities,” he said.

No one from Dubai Health Authority was available for comment yesterday.

Dr Jens Thomsen, the head of occupational and environmental health at the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi, said there were a number of diseases and illnesses that could come under review when applying for a licence.

In a downturn, little goes to waste

DUBAI - MAR 29: The global economic downturn has crippled construction activity, burst the property bubble and wiped out thousands of jobs. But for Dubai’s overflowing landfills, it seems to have brought a much-needed respite.

Last year the emirate, which with Abu Dhabi is one of the world’s largest per-capita waste generators, saw its amount of waste reduced by 22.2 per cent compared to 2008.  Dubai Municipality produced 21.4 million tonnes of waste, down more than six million tonnes from 2008.

The trend, said Hassan Makki, the director of the municipality’s waste management department, was evident across the waste spectrum domestic, hazardous, construction and medical.  “The reason is due to the economic recession,” he said.

Cameron Marland, the assistant general manager at Zenath Recycling and Waste Management, one of the largest waste management companies in the country, said the municipality’s figures reflected his company’s experience.

“The figures are probably correct,” he said. “The downturn is definitely a factor … We definitely have a number of [waste collection] trucks now sitting idle.”

The reduction, said Mr Marland, has been most evident in construction and demolition waste. Reduced construction activity means fewer labourers and less waste from their accommodations.

Last year, Dubai Municipality announced plans for an incineration facility. It was part of a scheme to reduce by 80 per cent the amount of waste going into its overflowing landfills.

Some are now questioning whether the current reduction in waste could make those plans less urgent.

The incinerators were projected to burn 6,500 tonnes of waste per day.

When the announcement was made in October, Mr Makki said the plan was to burn household garbage, rejected materials from Dubai’s waste-sorting facility and sewage sludge, a by-product of water treatment plants.

Yet even as it was announced, critics questioned the plan, pointing out that a large incineration facility would undermine recycling efforts.

Others have questioned the financing of the project. The major source of financing used by other countries tipping fees is not relevant in Dubai.

Tipping fees at the various landfills in the emirate are just Dh10 (US$2.70) per load.

Mr Makki said the municipality was not abandoning the idea of an incinerator, and that officials were working on the project.

“The tender documents are under preparation and review by the concerned departments,” he said.

Recycling has tremendous potential for growth. Only a fraction of the waste generated in the emirate, as well as in the rest of the country, is recycled.

With proper incentives, said Mr Marland, a large chunk of the household refuse that now ends up in landfills could be reprocessed for plastics, paper, glass and metal.

“Why not create an industry with environmental jobs?” he said.

Mr Marland said interest in recycling schemes seemed to be picking up.

“There is definitely now an increase in enquiries; people are looking at ways and means of reducing waste,” he said.

But obstacles remain.

In the UAE, Mr Marland said, the lack of infrastructure is the biggest challenge.

“The main requirement in the city of Dubai is facilities,” he said.

“People contact us on our website, asking where they can recycle. What facilities there are, they are often in private developments in new Dubai or schools. We cannot send people to those facilities.”

In addition to household waste, construction and demolition debris, and oil sludge and old tyres can also be recycled.

At the end of last year, Emirates Recycling, the Dubai-based company which is also behind the emirate’s delayed construction and demolition recycling project, was awarded the contract to open a recycling facility.

It was expected to be a solution for removing the eight million tyres that have piled up in Dubai over the past 20 years.

Mr Makki said that the two projects were still under construction.