NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Crane collapse causes rush-hour delays

A crane working on the Dubai Metro track, near Emirates Tower fell onto scaffolding causing parts of Sheikh Zayed Road to be closed. Paulo Vecina / The National

DUBAI - NOV 10: A construction crane fell on Sheikh Zayed Road early yesterday, causing traffic jams for several kilometres during rush-hour as emergency services closed the road to city-bound traffic for seven hours.

The vertical mast of the crane, being used in constructing the metro station at the Trade Centre, toppled on to a road-sign gantry over the Bur Dubai-bound side of the highway about 4.30am when traffic was sparse.

The gantry prevented the long section of the crane from falling where it could have crushed cars or caused a pile-up. No one was injured.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said it was investigating the accident to determine its cause and ensure that it did not happen again.

A second crane was brought in by 8am to stabilise the one that had fallen and make sure it did not move further. Because the fall damaged the crane’s mast, the RTA emergency team cut it into pieces rather than risk lifting it again.

“The metal had bent and it would have been unsafe to pull the whole thing up at one time,” an RTA spokesman said. “The part of the crane that fell had become partially detached from the rest of the machine.”

While the crane was being dismantled, engineers checked the gantry on to which it had fallen to make sure it was still safe for cars to pass under. Debris also had to be cleared from the road. The dual carriageway, which had been shut on the side bound for the Creek in the section from Defence Roundabout to the Trade Centre roundabout, was reopened shortly after midday.

Abdul Majeed al Khaja, the head of the rail agency at the RTA, said all the cranes used on the Metro project were subject to international safety standards. “All the equipment used in the project is subject to tests by the safety units of the consultant and contractor before it is deployed on site, and all operators are certified to use this machinery,” he said.

Closing the road caused traffic jams as far back as the Mall of the Emirates. Traffic on Al Wasl Road and Al Khail Road was also extremely slow as commuters were diverted to the two roads at Al Safa interchange.

Charbel Karam, 27, a graphic designer who works in Emirates Towers, said it took him three hours to drive from Umm Suqeim to his destination on Sheikh Zayed Road.

“I went from Al Wasl Road to Al Khail Road, then down through Zaabeel, but it was on the Safa Park bridge that I got stuck for two hours,” he said. “I wanted to detour the accident as much as possible, but the whole experience was really frustrating. I just kept getting angry; if I had found anywhere to U-turn I would’ve definitely gone home.”

He said people were still coming in to work at 1.30pm as a result of the accident. “Some people stayed at home until they heard the road was cleared.”

Tamer Ahmed, a production editor who also works on Sheikh Zayed Road, said it took him about four hours to get to his office from The Greens.

“I left the house at 8.30am, and didn’t reach the office until 12.30pm,” he said. “It was really bad, cars were standing bumper-to-bumper.” He said he had to postpone business meetings.

Cars travelling in the opposite direction, towards Abu Dhabi, were also caught in heavy traffic as commuters slowed down to look at the fallen crane. “The RTA calls upon all road users to comply with the directions of traffic personnel and not to linger at the site of accidents, as the attitudes of some motorists contribute to aggravating traffic bottlenecks,” Mr Khaja said.

Other commuters decided to work from home for the day rather than take the risk of getting stuck on the roads. John Hughes, 35, who works near Garhoud, said he was on his way to work in the morning when he heard that the road was closed.

“I turned around as soon as I could and headed back home,” he said. “There was no way I was going to sit in hours of traffic when I could get work done at home.”

Abu Dhabi's future in hands of private sector

The future of Abu Dhabi will be determined by success or failure in four key areas: modernised health and education systems, an efficient public sector and a diversified economy, a top official said yesterday.

Ahmed al Sowaidi, the chairman of the Department and Planning and Economy (DPE), said achieving those goals would allow the emirate to integrate into the world economy, which was important now more than ever.

Both Mr Sowaidi and Mohammed Omar Abdulla, the undersecretary at the DPE, said much of Abu Dhabi’s future was in the hands of the private sector, both in terms of the delivery of public services and the diversification of the economy.

“The economic interests of the world’s countries have become so overlapping and interdependent that it’s no longer possible for any nation to live and prosper in isolation, irrespective of its capabilities and resources,” he said, speaking at the Abu Dhabi Conference, a two-day event organised by the Middle East Economic Digest.

“To set a new course that we can work towards, the Government has articulated a clear vision for the future of the emirate in which Abu Dhabi will remain a confident and secure society within a sustainable, dynamic open economy.

“In order to achieve that vision, the Government has identified key priority areas in which significant policy initiatives are driving the changes in the emirate as well as its integration into the global economy.”

One Government goal would see the public sector restructured to become a regulator of public services rather than a provider. Its workforce has been reduced to 11,000 civil servants, from 65,000 in 2005.

As the public sector takes an increasingly marginal role in the practical provision of services, the private sector will step in, although under Government supervision, the DPE said. The DPE will figure strongly in attempts to diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy by shifting its heavy reliance on the oil and gas sector, which still represents more than 60 per cent of the emirate’s gross domestic product, Mr Sowaidi said.

“For Abu Dhabi, diversification means expanding into industries and services in which the emirate already has, or can affordably attain, a competitive advantage,” he said.

Those opportunities include real estate, tourism, aerospace and logistics.

“Abu Dhabi is dedicated to making the most of the globalisation process and is going through fundamental changes in terms of government regulations to favour foreign investment, the development of the private sector and global economic integration,” he said.

Similar to its strategy in providing public services, the Government will give the private sector a leading role in the economy, Mr Abdulla said. The Government has expanded the capacity of local institutions, such as Zayed University and the UAE University, to modernise education. It has also established partnerships with the Paris-Sorbonne University, New York University and the graduate business school Insead.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, recently ordered a complete overhaul of Government primary and secondary education to improve what is widely viewed as a failing system. In health care, the emirate recently established compulsory, employer-funded health insurance for Abu Dhabi residents. In addition, the Government is working with other institutions including Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cleveland Clinic and the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre.

The Government has said it will now focus on the accessibility of quality healthcare facilities such as hospitals and primary care centres.

Mall to show off automated car park

ABU DHABI - NOV 10: A multi-storey automated car park with space for 765 vehicles at one of Dubai’s most popular malls will be shown this week during a three-day parking symposium.

The completed structure adjacent to Ibn Battuta Mall – to be shown off to dignitaries this week – will open once roads in the area are finished.

It is one of several robotic car parks being built to address the UAE’s parking space shortage.

There are several types of mechanical car parks, but they usually involve motorists leaving their cars on platforms, which then move the cars on trolleys that slot them into spaces stacked vertically.

The buildings, which can hold more vehicles than conventional multi-storey car parks, solve the problem of space, said Sami Issa, general manager of Robotic Parking Systems.

“In Abu Dhabi, where the city is already built, very limited land is available and there is a big parking shortage, we can build a very efficient facility.”

Eight companies from the automated parking industry are expected to attend the symposium at Abu Dhabi’s Beach Rotana Hotel.

“A large number of companies have approached us and are telling us about projects that they have under way, that they are keeping under wraps,” said Davyd Farrell, the event’s organiser. “That indicates to me that, coupled with the property boom in the UAE and in the GCC as well, automatic parking is a viable solution and one that is being embraced to combat parking problems.”

Mr Issa said his company has three other projects either under construction or in the planning stages, including one at the Emirates Financial Towers in Dubai that will hold 1,200 cars, and a structure at a hotel to be built in Abu Dhabi.

Another company, Sharjah-based East and West Robotics, which built a small car park near Dubai two years ago, said it would soon install a car park to hold 200 vehicles at a residential building in Sharjah.

Abu Dhabi’s parking management programme will also be under discussion at the symposium, with government officials expected to attend. It is the first event dedicated to the parking industry in the Middle East.

Drivers’ attitude blamed for high death toll on roads

UAE - NOV 10:  A lack of a responsible driving culture is the main cause of fatal road accidents in the Arab world, a safety official said yesterday.

“We are a failure in teaching road safety,” said Afif al Frigui, head of the Arab Road Safety Organisation.

“In Europe, traffic rules are followed under any circumstances, even when it is snowing, because people respect the rules. Yet, if a man moves from Paris into the Arab world he will eventually get influenced by the bad driving habits because the environment as a whole does not follow the rules,” he told an international symposium on traffic safety management systems in Abu Dhabi.

“It is not the sole responsibility of police operations, as many people seem to believe,” Mr Frigui said. “It is an educational issue. For example, parents should impose traffic safety on their children. Imams should preach about it during Friday prayers.”

A Ministry of Interior official told the symposium the Government would adopt new procedures for training learner drivers and establish more driving schools.

The ministry’s traffic department director, Col Gheath al Zaabi, said: “We plan to reduce deaths caused by traffic accidents by 1.5 for every 100,000 people each year. We will study the recommendations at the end of the symposium and see what could be applied to the UAE environment.”

The ministry’s aim is to bring down road deaths to 14.2 per 100,000 by the end of 2008 from last year’s figure of 15.7 per 100,000.

Saif al Shafar, undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior, said new laws such as the black-points system for traffic offences had already helped to reduce road accidents. He also said a ban on cars more than 20 years old would contribute to traffic safety, because “over-aged cars increase pollution and accidents as they could suffer technical flaws”.

About 36,000 people died in traffic accidents in the Arab world in 2007, according to official figures. In GCC countries, about 9,000 motorists died and 65,000 were injured.

The five-day symposium is organised by the Emirates Traffic Safety Society, the Arab Road Safety Organisation and Prévention Routière Internationale.

Traffic experts from the UAE and Arab world are attending to discuss the nature and challenges of traffic accidents, traffic safety on the international level, how to influence attitudes of road users, improving infrastructure and the role of traffic regulation and ambulances.

21 held over bid to enter UAE illegally

ABU DHABI - NOV 10: Twenty-one people have been arrested in India and accused of trying to fly to Abu Dhabi on forged documents.

Police in Mumbai arrested 14 passengers and seven others who had arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport to “ensure the safe passage of the travellers”.

The group were arrested while preparing to board an Etihad Airways aircraft travelling to London via the UAE capital.

Shankar Yeram, a police sub inspector, said police acted on a tip-off that people were travelling on forged work visas. The accused were arrested with fake travel documents at the airport.

Those arrested were carrying documents that said they were going to work in hotels, as guards, landscapers and waiters. All were from Baroda in Gujarat.

Police said officers were left “unconvinced” by a “variety of changing replies” during questioning on Friday, when they were arrested.

“I cannot tell you which hotel or company sponsored them once we were able to confirm that it was fake,” Mr Yeram said.

It was unclear whether they were seeking to disembark in Abu Dhabi or make their way to London, he said.

Police said the seven “travel agents” who were also arrested were paid Dh26,000 (US$7,085) by each of the passengers, several times the sum received for processing documents legally.