NEWS FROM THE UAE
Excerpts from UAE Dailies
Drug gang busted; police seize 521kg of hashish
ABU DHABI — JUN 20: Abu Dhabi Police have busted an international gang of drug peddlers and foiled its attempt to smuggle 521kg of hashish to a neighbouring Gulf country.
“The Anti-Narcotics Section of the Abu Dhabi Police was tipped off that a huge quantity of hashish had been stashed in wooden planks placed inside a container to be shipped from an Asian country to a GCC country via the UAE,” Lt. Col. Ali Mohammed Al Shamsi, head of the Anti-Narcotics Section at the General Department for Security and Checkposts Affairs, disclosed.
Task force
A task force was set up under the supervision of Brigadier Mattar Hamad Al Mohiri, director general of Security and Checkposts Affairs, and a plan was chalked out, in coordination with the seaport authorities, to nab the criminals. As per the plan, the police and seaport personnel ensured that the ship sailed with the consignment to the targeted destination, and no raids would be carried out until the vessel anchored at the port of call, Al Shamsi said.
The gangsters were arrested soon after the vessel anchored and the contraband was seized. Those held comprised two Asians and an Arab citizen.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Dubai - Road rage killer jailed
Dubai - Jun 20: A bus driver who ran over and killed a man in a fit of road rage was yesterday sentenced to 15 years in prison. On November 9 last year, the victim and a relative of his were driving in Al Rashidiya when the 32-year-old Pakistani cut up their car in his mini-bus.
After flashing their lights at him they managed to drive past and pulled the car across the road to block the buses way. The victim then stepped out of his vehicle and approached the bus, at which point the defendant ran him over and drove away. The victim’s relative told the court: “I just saw him lying next to the car with blood pouring out of him.”
The driver will be deported after serving his sentence.
SEVEN DAYS
Man on trial for murder attempt on wife
DUBAI — JUN 20: The Dubai Criminal Court yesterday started the trial of 23-year-old Somali national, A.Q., who is charged with attempting to murder his wife F.A. on January 17, 2007.
During the court hearing, the accused’s wife alleged that on January 17, A.Q. told her that his uncle had arrived from Europe and that they had to visit him in his hotel room in Dubai’s Naif area.
She said after going to the hotel room and not finding his uncle, A.Q. assured her that his uncle would arrive shortly, after which A.Q. went out and brought fruits and bottles of juices and some other drinks.
The Somali woman said she suspected her husband of consuming alcohol and threatened to seek divorce. However, when she tried to leave the hotel room, he forcibly took away her mobilephone and handbag and locked the door. The victim said she tried to call the police but he had switched off the phone. The victim then rushed to the balcony and shouted for help.
The accused followed her to the balcony with a knife in hand. He stabbed the woman over 15 times. The victim fell unconscious after the attack.
During interrogation, A.Q. said he stabbed the woman after a fight because he saw an SMS on her phone from an unknown man. He said the woman took the knife out of his pocket and tried to stab him. In self defence, he said, he snatched the knife from her and stabbed her and fled from the scene, because he had consumed alcohol.
During investigations, a hotel employee said the Somali suspect came to the hotel and asked for a room. He said he wanted to rent the room for three hours. After asking the woman to wait in the room, he went away on the pretext of fetching money and his ID. But after five minutes, he returned saying he did not want the room. He then went to call the woman from the room. But soon “we heard the woman screaming and the man fleeing”.
When the police reached the scene they found the woman lying in a pool of blood and rushed her to hospital.
However, the police found the man’s jacket which had his photograph and also found the knife in a waste basket. On January 20, the police arrested the accused in Sharjah and referred him to the Public Prosecution department.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Dh1 billion fish market to be ready by mid-2009 in capital
ABU DHABI — JUN 20: The Central Fish Market, the capital’s new fish, vegetable and meat market project with a total built up area of 1.8 million sq ft is to be realised soon at a cost of Dh1 billion.
The project is expected to be operational by mid-2009. It will have a state-of-the-art market with more than 200 outlets apart from a shopping mall, including a hypermarket and a spacious food court.
Line Investments & Property LLC, a division of the leading retail chain Emke Group, is the developer and operator of the project.
“This will be a unique project in the whole Gulf and it will cater to the requirements of the entire Abu Dhabi residents. The project has been initiated on the directives of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and will serve as a benchmark for quality and service standards of Abu Dhabi,” Yousuff Ali M A, Managing Director, Emke Group, said.
The quality standards of the new market will comply with ISO 14001, ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, HACCP, Abu Dhabi Municipality HSE regulations and other world-class quality, health, safety, environmental and waste management systems.
The market will have a common fish cleaning hall and an international standard fish-waste processing plant. All steps have been taken to ensure a totally hygienic and odourless market.
The project is located in the heart of city with a parking capacity of more than 3500 and will also have specialty sea-food restaurants.
The project is a joint venture between Mubadala Development Company and Line Investments & Property LLC.
KHALEEJ TIMES
Hi-tech toilets for Abu Dhabi
ABU DHABI — JUN 20: Now, people who go to beaches, public parks, gardens, the corniche, picnic spots and streets in Abu Dhabi will not have to struggle to find a washroom as the work on installing 60 automated paid public toilets will become operational next week in the capital.
According to the head of Abu Dhabi Municipality’s City Image Management Section and General Services Sector, Omer Mohamed Al Hashmi, “The cost of using the toilets will be around Dh1 or Dh2, but it is yet to be finalised. For public convenience, the instructions in Arabic, English, Urdu and Hindi, will be available at the toilets.”
“The new advanced touch-free system and design will keep the restrooms hygienic and clean,” added Al Hashmi.
Commenting on the completely automated restrooms, Ahmed Mohamed Abdul Fattah, architect at CIMS said, “It is fully safe and user-friendly. The electronic coin box will indicate people whether the restroom is vacant, occupied, being cleaning or closed. The toilet will be automatically cleaned, disinfected and flushed after use by each visitor. The toilet can also be manually flushed by pressing a button.”
The emergency equipment prevents the door from getting shut if children are not escorted to the toilet, because of minimum weight control sensor. And if more than one person enters into the washroom the alarm will go off because the maximum weigh control will detect it, said Fattah.
Explaining the technical utility of the restrooms, he said, “The door opens automatically when the coin is inserted and closes automatically 10 seconds after a person has entered and is manually locked. The door will gently reopen if it encounters any obstacle while closing. After reopening, it will try to close again.”
Arrangements have also been made to make the toilets user-friendly for people with special needs.
Al Hashmi said, “Handles for people having physical problems are made of stainless steel and are gold painted.”
KHALEEJ TIMES
Man jailed for smuggling had drugs for ‘education’
Dubai - Jun 20: A Canadian UN official who advised the Afghan Government on eradicating opium poppy crops was sentenced by the Dubai Criminal Court yesterday to four years in prison for smuggling and drug possession. The man has the right to appeal within 15 days.
Bert Tatham, 35, of Vancouver, was arrested on April 23 during a stopover at Dubai International Airport, after being caught with 0.6 grammes of hashish, and two poppy bulbs. He pleaded not guilty during preliminary investigations last week.
A deportation order was also passed on Tatham, to be carried out on the completion of the jail term.
Tatham was arrested on his way to Canada from the Afghan city of Kandahar, where he worked as a consultant for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and as an advisor to the Afghan Government’s poppy elimination programme.
Sharif Emara, a member of the Dubai-based legal team defending Tatham, said: “We had good defence and he got the full punishment.” Saeed Al Gailani, Tatham’s lawyer, had argued in court last week that his client inadvertently carried a small amount of drugs because his job involved burning and disposing of tonnes of seized Afghan opium crops.
Traces of hashish found in Tatham’s urine were inhaled by Tatham as “secondhand smoke,” the lawyer claimed.
As for the poppy bulbs, Al Gailani said Tatham was taking them to Canada “for experiments and education”.
EMIRATES TODAY
Travellers trapped in ticket racket
Dubai - Jun 20: Travellers are falling foul of a swindle carried out by unauthorised job-seekers and unscrupulous travel agents. People entering the UAE from certain countries on visit or transit visas are required by airlines to have return tickets.
But many who hope to stay back and find work book a two-way fare and then – with the aid of a crooked agent – cancel the return portion and obtain a refund.
This enables them to benefit from cheaper travel and meet the airlines’ requirements. The agent receives a service charge.
But some innocent passengers are trapped, having their return tickets cancelled by mistake along with the others who tried to beat the system.
An airline source said up to 90 per cent of travellers on certain flights from the Philippines and India cancelled their return tickets on arrival.
“Many people entering the UAE on a visit or transit visa need a confirmed return ticket that can be used to leave the country at the end of the visa period,” said the source. “Most job-seekers ask for cheaper fares and travel agents give them a return ticket.
“Sometimes, the passenger pays the full amount and gets a refund later. In other cases, the agent charges for a one-way fare, issues a bogus two-way ticket and takes a service charge.” The issue of online air tickets that passengers print themselves makes it easy to travel with cancelled tickets. Normal tickets have a flight sticker to prove they are genuine. Emigration authorities in Indian airports check return tickets, but cannot ensure online tickets are valid.
One Indian travel agent said the arrangement became widespread after travellers requested cheaper travel packages. “If they run into any financial problems in the UAE, they get stranded,” he added.
Mohammed Shafiq, 18, was one of the innocent passengers who fell victim to the scam. He travelled from Calicut in Kerala, India, to visit his father Mohammed Kunju, 55, in Sharjah.
When the time came to return home, he went to Dubai International Airport – only to find his return ticket cancelled by the agent. He ended up having to pay Dh1,500 for a business-class ticket home.
EMIRATES TODAY
Police team that cracked Wafi case rewarded
Dubai - Jun 20: Police who tracked down the men accused of carrying out the Wafi City diamond robbery have received a Dh1 million reward. The payment was made by Minister of Interior Lt General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The cash was shared by Lt General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-inChief of Dubai Police, and members of the team that made the arrests.
“This award reflects the precious confidence shown in the people responsible for our dear country’s security and stability by the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,” said Tamim.
Tamim praised Lt General Sheikh Saif for his support after the robbery and said the minister had been convinced the police would deal successfully with the case.
He also thanked the CID and Criminal Evidence Department for their efforts.
EMIRATES TODAY
Workers’ call for amnesty falls on deaf ears
Dubai - Jun 20: Indian amnesty seekers desperate for information about the scheme have complained that many helpline numbers of volunteer groups and organisations do not respond. The illegal workers say many hotlines at leading Indian associations, set up to help them, are dead and they do not know where to seek details about the amnesty scheme announced by the UAE Government.
To check the claim, Emirates Today called the numbers and received no response.
Calls to the hotline numbers set up by the Indian High School (050 150 5292), Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (050 340 2889), Dubai Indian Islamic Centre (050 880 8312), Indian Relief Committee (050 584 9320) in Dubai and the Indian Association Sharjah (050 786 6591), all went unanswered.
The only response was from the Indian Consulate hotline (050 429 3269).
Only after repeated attempts were we able to get through to the Dubai Indian Islamic Centre’s hotline.
A volunteer preferring anonymity said: “Many of the hotline numbers do not work.
“Sometimes the calls are just disconnected,” the volunteer said.
An Indian Consulate staff member handling the hotline advised us to come to the consulate – or any other collection centre – with Dh20, a copy of our passport and an application form to get an out pass. Contrary to the claims of the workers, the volunteers have an entirely different story to tell.
“I receive more than 1,000 phone calls daily and most callers are from Sharjah and Dubai. They ask whether there will be a ban when they come back after the amnesty,” says Jaffer Hussein, volunteer at Indian Social and Cultural Club, Kalba.
Another volunteer from Dubai, said: “While attending a call, the mobile will not ring if another person is trying to reach us. Many people send ‘missed calls’ and we cannot afford to call them back.
“We don’t get any money from the charges levied by the Indian consulate. We are not supposed to take money, but we still provide tea and water at the collection centres.” While the consulate charges Dh20 per applicant, the associations that offer voluntary service are self-financed. A source from the Indian Association said: “The Association helplines don’t work because there’s no financial benefit.
“For other consular services, like issuing new passports or certificate attestation, we get a share of the fees. But not for this.” Another volunteer said:
“The helpline is always occupied all day. Hundreds of people call, but we got only 40 genuine applications for out passes.
“We cannot answer all questions about issues like ban and reentry, which the UAE government has to answer.” According to consulate sources, about 4,500 out passes have been issued so far.
EMIRATES TODAY
Dubai - Having a Hoot
Dubai - Jun 20: Hooters, a US restaurant chain famous for its scantily clad waitresses, may open this year in Dubai as it expands to the Arabian peninsula for the first time, the company's local partner said yesterday according to a report by news agency Associated Press.
"I am trying to secure a location to open one restaurant this year. A year from now I will have two to three potential locations," Jamal al-Shaheen, a Kuwaiti investor, who has the franchise rights for Hooters in Dubai, told Dow Jones Newswires. Waitresses at Hooters, which describes itself as a "beach-theme" restaurant, wear tight revealing tank tops and skimpy shorts, in their many branches around the world.
Al-Shaheen said the original plan was to open a restaurant on Dubai's Palm Jumeirah. But delays on the massive construction project caused him to opt for a new location on the nearby Jumeirah Beach Road. The new location for Dubai's first Hooters ought to be sealed by the summer's end, al-Shaheen confirmed, and the restaurant should open about six months later.
Al-Shaheen, a partner in Kuwaiti firm Marketing Management Group, or MMG, doesn't expect any conservative backlash over Hooters' staff uniforms, saying the tight tops and shorts are no more revealing than normal outfits on the nearby Dubai beach.
Several 7DAYS readers expressed their surprise at the news. One Canadian resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I don't think it's such a great idea to open a Hooters here, not so much because it's offensive, but more because it's such a tacky place. I really like Jumeirah Beach Road and wouldn't want it to have a cheesy hangout on it.”
Another, a male of Middle Eastern origin, called the idea “extremely inappropriate”, while several people seemed indifferent to the project. The Dubai Hooters wasn't the first one planned for the Middle East. Plans to open a Hooters restaurant in Lebanon have been shelved because of fighting in the country, al-Shaheen said.
The franchise has more than 430 restaurants in the US and 23 other countries, including China. Atlanta, Georgia-based Hooters, charges a franchise fee of $75,000 per location and says initial investment in a restaurant ranges between $800,000 and $1.5 million .
SEVEN DAYS