NEWS FROM THE U.A.E.
Excerpts from U.A.E.
No extension of grace period on issue of labour cards
ABU DHABI — 03 JANUARY 2006: Officials said yesterday that any extension of the grace period, given by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, to companies which have to pay their fines for failure to renew or issue labour cards, was 'just a rumour'.
Contrary to expectations, the counter of new work permits did not witness any crowds. Dr Khalid Al Khazraji, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said that companies always wait till the last few days of the grace period to take advantage, and this causes crowds and pressure on the ministry staff.
"We cannot estimate the number of those benefitting from the grace period precisely. The numbers of violations could include recurrent cases or cases that have legal problems," he said.
Hatem Al Janeeby, the Assistant Under-Secretary of Ministry of Labour for labour sector, said the grace period was the last chance which will be given to companies.
He said any company should take the chance and benefit from the grace period to rectify their status, or they would fined Dh5,000 for each year of delay.
He noted that currently, the fine which was decided for the grace period is only Dh5,000 notwithstanding the number of years' delay in issuing or renewing labour cards for company employees.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Government announces Eid holidays
ABU DHABI – 03 JANUARY 2006: Ministries and public institutions will remain closed for five days from January 9, Monday (Zul Hijja 9, 1427 Hijri). Work will resume on January 14, (Zul Hijja 14, 1427, Hijri), says a circular issued by the Ministry of State for Cabinet Affairs.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs also issued a circular on the holidays for the private sector which will be three days starting from January 9 to end on Wednesday. Thursday will be the beginning of work for the private sector.
Subsequently, some employees of governmental departments have taken the opportunity and applied for sick leave on Saturday and Sunday, which when combined with the Eid holidays, will get them about 10 days holidays starting from January 5 to 14.
KHALEEJ TIMES
DNRD online services out of gear for 4 days
DUBAI — 03 JANUARY 2006: A breakdown that has affected the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department online service since four days, has caused losses and entailed delays for tourism travel agencies and chaos among passengers.
Khaleej Times received calls from a number of tourist and travel agents and hotels complaining about the breakdown of the online system of the DNRD which also failed to provide manual alternative solution to the problem that affected the business and put many passengers in trouble.
Sources from the department confirmed a slowdown in the system resulting from the rush especially since all companies were made to process via the new online service and promised improvements by 5 pm yesterday. However, as many companies failed to file three or four names of the subject visitor, many applications were rejected, a situation that necessitated re-applying and increasing load on the system.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said that many passengers who traveled to neighbouring countries for visa change got stuck in those countries because the system broke down preventing companies from processing the necessary visas.
A manager of a tourist company said that the online system witnessed complete breakdown after a few minutes of slow down from last Wednesday.
He said that his company deals with about 500 visas daily for tourists from different countries.
He said that the breakdown of the online system and not allowing an alternative manual system, pushed the company to cancel the hotel bookings they had already made to their customers.
Besides, there are about 150 passengers got stuck in Kish for visa change, he said.
"Daily, I apply for about 250 urgent visas and another 250 ordinary visas. There are many traders who come from Iran for one day to make deals and they travel back on the same day. About 25 to 32 planes arrive from different Iranian cities to the country and they book just for one day. We had to tell them to postpone their deals until we will be able to process the necessary visas for them," he said adding," today, the staff of my company concerned with applying for visas were asked to come to the officer as early as 6am to be able to process before any expected rush. They could process a few visas just for 15 minutes after 7.30am. The system went back dead the whole day."
Two months ago, the DNRD online system witnessed a similar breakdown that prompted the department to move particularly large companies to apply through a new online system against increasing the service fees. With this breakdown, the department has failed to provide a service equivalent to the increased fees," he said.
Nada Sameer, a representative of a tourist company said that the company had to cancel hotel bookings of many of its clients.
Nada believed that the new online system should have been upgraded to meet expected magnitude of work before transferring all companies to the new system starting from last Saturday.
"Until Wednesday we were operating via the old online system. On December 24 we received a notification from DNRD to opt to the new system based on which we were offered a suitable training on the new system. We were asked to make a bank account to get a password for processing via the new online system," she explained.
"On Saturday we were received the necessary password by Empost, but unfortunately the system was rejecting our transactions. When we inquired with the DNRD's online help desk we used to receive promises about a relief within a couple of hours that did never happen," she said adding that the company tried to process its clients' visas through Emirates airlines, but as the carrier was facing the same problem we have lost our reliability and credibility among our clients."
An Arab visitor who travelled to Qatar for visa change got stuck in the airport for four days since Wednesday as when he arrived his visa was not ready for him.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Conflict over dairy products prices flares up
DUBAI — 03 JANUARY 2006:The conflict between the Consumer Cooperative Union (CCU) and the UAE Dairy Products Association has flared up after the cooperative societies here refused to accept the dairy and juice products from the suppliers who have hiked prices of some items by 10 per cent.
An official source disclosed that as part of the war by cooperatives against the greedy suppliers,the cooperatives are holding discussions with companies in two neighbouring countries to import a high quality milk brand to the UAE market by the beginning of the next week.
He said that the decision of importing milk came after the success of the cooperatives to import cheap and high quality chicken from the neighbouring countries.
He described the situation as a test for cooperative societies, consumer unions and consumers. “We have to achieve success, and the consumers should also be made aware of the situation. They should stop purchasing certain brands and reject hike in prices by seeking other alternatives,” he said. The cooperative societies will look into various options and strategies which can offer indirect support to consumers in the long run.
He said that the issue would be taken up with the Consumer Cooperative Union (CCU) and the societies will take strict measures if the dairy groups continue to pressurise the societies and to exploit the situation.
He said during its last meeting, the Consumer Cooperatives Union has taken united decisions and refused to receive the dairy products prices of which have been increased from January 1. The CCU has called upon the Dairy sector to postpone the implementation of the price hike until the Ministry of Labor and Ministry of economy, to whom representations were made last Saturday by the CCU to consider the hike in prices, take a decision. The Cooperatives have called on the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to take measures to protect the consumers.
Dr Ahmed Al Tijani, Chairman of UAE Dairy Products Association and Manager of Al Rawabi Group, told Khaleej Times that the societies have refused to receive the dairy products since the implementation of the new prices. He said that the group distributed yesterday their products to all supermarkets in the UAE as per the new prices.
He said, “if the cooperatives sold the products at less prices the supermarkets will be affected,” stressing that the suppliers will not be affected by the cooperatives' refusal to receive the milk because they can sell their products to supermarkets.
He said that the suppliers cannot sell their products at the old prices because they are facing losses and the cooperatives could provide the consumers with other alternatives such as long shelf products leaving the decision to the customers.
Al Tijani said that a meeting will be held today at the Ministry of Finance to discuss the issue.
KHALEEJ TIMES
DTC taxi drivers go on protest action and later report to work
DUBAI — 03 JANUARY 2006: Approximately 4,000 taxi drivers from Dubai Transport Corporation went on strike at their labour camp yesterday.
Listing a catalogue of grievances, the men refused to go to work from 6.00am till 4pm, and submitted a list of demands to the management.
The protest ended when a letter from the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai was delivered to the camp guaranteeing the drivers issues would be investigated and solved within four days.
After Lieutenant Salah Bilal addressed the crowd of strikers, the drivers returned to work at approximately 3.30pm.
A meeting of management, immigration and labour officials was held late yesterday and negotiations were continuing till late in the evening.
The protest resolved after a day of high drama, and a tense stand-off between the striking men and management officials. Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, Director General of DTC addressed the crowd, many of whom were sitting on the ground.
He announced: “We cannot solve the problem now,” and suggested that it would take time, and that the men should return to work. He claimed the company needed 48 hours to resolve the issue. The men refused to disperse, however. One driver said: “He’s offered promises, but they have not been accepted.”
Shortly after Al Mulla’s failed attempt to entice the men back to work, riot police arrived at approximately 12.00pm, accompanied by members of the special forces donned in black and wearing balaclavas. Members of the riot police carried tear gas guns. Police water cannons were also present.
Immigration, and labour officials arrived and indicated they should be given an hour to discuss the problem with the management. At 12.30pm the riot police, special forces and water cannons left the labour camp.
A waiting game then ensued with no apparent drivers breaking ranks, and returning to work. Around 100 riot police returned at 1.45pm, and contained the protesters.
After the announcement was made by Lieutenant Bilal, the overall consensus amongst the drivers was to return to work. Although the men eventually did return to work, it remains unclear whether there will be further strike action if their grievances aren’t met by Thursday.
Official sources in Dubai Police said that the Dubai Police Riot Squad Team had rushed to DTC headquarters when informed of the protest. Lieutenant Riyad Abdul Rahman from Dubai Police Human Rights Department and the Labour Committee started discussions with the officials and drivers.
A meeting was held at the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department at 8pm yesterday to solve the problem before the official opening of the DSF.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Drivers' protest hits commuters hard
DUBAI — 03 JANUARY 2006: Passengers in Dubai had a tough day yesterday as they hardly found taxis for commuting because of the protest staged by drivers of Dubai Transport Corporation, and the illegal taxis that exploited the situation by doubling their fares.
Many passengers told Khaleej Times that they struggled to find taxis and were forced to depend on illegal taxis, especially in the morning which charged them much more than the actual fare.
Sanjay, a marketing executive, said: “I used to rely on a public transport bus for my travelling except during emergencies. Yesterday, I had an important meeting in Karama. I waited for a taxi near Fish Roundabout in Deira, and I couldn’t find one. Then, I was forced to take an illegal taxi and the driver charged me Dh20 to Karama, which is more than the normal rate.
He claimed that he didn’t have any option other than hiring an illegal taxi. “When I asked the driver why the charge is high, he replied that if you don’t want, I will get another passenger because the DTC taxis are off the road,” he said.
Jafar, another passenger, echoed the same sentiments. He said: “I wanted to go from Deira to Hor Al Anz for work in the morning. I waited at the Naif Road for 20 minutes. Some taxis of other companies were passing by, but they were all occupied. When an illegal taxi driver approached me, I asked him about the fare and he said he will charge Dh18.”
He pointed out that normally, illegal taxis charge less than the metered cabs, but yesterday, they had a chance to take the maximum advantage of the situation.
KHALEEJ TIMES