NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL
Flooding brings Emirates Road traffic to standstill
Traffic on Emirates Road, highway 311, is at a virtual standstill after a burst water pipe forces police to close the road.
DUBAI - AUG 26: Dubai authorities said they will take severe action against contractors and companies not following regulations after a water reservoir burst and caused floods on Emirates Road, impacting traffic for hours.
Motorists heading to work were stranded on the main Emirates Road as the authorities struggled to clear up the flood and divert traffic. The gridlock on the road was the longest in recent years, witnesses said.
The incident occurred at around 8am, when most residents use the highway to get to work.
Water from an artificial lake beside the road flooded Emirates Road near the Dubai Silicon Oasis. The water level was so high that motorists were unable to pass through causing a virtual standstill of traffic.
Hussain al Banna, the director of traffic at the roads and transport authority (RTA) and head of the RTA emergency team said that a team was immediately dispatched to the spot.
"The team, in collaboration with Dubai Police, immediately closed the Al Qusais-bound stream of the road and diverted traffic to the Al Ain Road, University
City Road and Dubai Bypass Road," he said.
Dubai Municipality said they received a call at 7am and dispatched water tankers to the location.
"Initially we were using five tankers but we then had to send many more because of the huge quantity of water on the roads," said Abdul Majid Sifaee, the director of drainage and irrigation at the Dubai municipality.
He added that 16 tankers were used for the job and it took workers more than six hours to clear the road.
"It is still not clear whom the water reservoir belonged to but we know that it was not a Dubai Municipality project," he added.
The RTA said that investigations will be conducted to identify the company responsible for the flooding.
Mr Banna said that they will take action to prevent similar incidents in the future.
"Such incidents involve huge financial losses, and may involve human losses, as well as wasting of time and effort. It is vitally important to keep preventative measures in place as the RTA will not be lenient in taking appropriate measures against offenders," he said.
Meanwhile, the traffic gridlock impacted the road towards Sharjah, only easing by late afternoon.
"Being peak hour, traffic was already heavy on the road and the large number
of heavy vehicles also added to the mess. I reached office at 12 noon,
two hours later than I should have reached," said Anil Kumar, a motorist who got stuck in the traffic jam.
Children left out as nurseries overflow
ABU DHABI - AUG 26:An influx of expatriate families is exacerbating a serious shortage of places in nurseries, where waiting lists have grown to record lengths.
Some nursery schools are oversubscribed by more than 100 per cent and parents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are frustrated and concerned that they will have to keep their young children at home.
Owners say the obstacles to opening new nurseries or enlarging existing ones mean there is little chance of the situation improving soon.
In both Abu Dhabi and Dubai, administrators of nursery schools say places were filled months ago – a situation consistent with heavy demand for places at every level of education, with many primary schools heavily oversubscribed.
“We’ve lived here a long time and we’ve found that this year is the worst year,” said Susan Alrumathi, the director of the Lady Bird Private Nursery School in Abu Dhabi.
The school, which can accommodate 100 children, filled all its places for the coming year by April, without advertising.
“There are a lot of people coming in and the schools can’t take the children,” said Ms Alrumathi.
The crisis feeds into an already worsening shortage of places in elementary and secondary schools.
“Nursery education is vitally important in preparing a child socially and emotionally for the transition between parental separation and the start of their full-time education,” said Lisamarie Blackburn, the principal of the Humpty Dumpty Nursery school in the capital.
“All children deserve a good start in life. I’m saddened by the fact that so many are going to be denied this positive and beneficial head-start and that parents will be forced to make alternate childcare arrangements that may be detrimental to their child’s developmental progress during these sensitive years.”
Humpty Dumpty, which has a capacity of 100, also closed registration in April.
“There are still 160 children on the waiting list and we have had to stop taking any new names and numbers,” said Ms Blackburn. “We’re getting more than 15 calls a day.”
Bright Beginnings Nursery, which has two branches in Abu Dhabi, with room for about 250 children, currently has 150 children on the waiting list.
“There are so many expats,” said Marie Rossel, an administrator at the ABC Nursery, which opened in 1979. With a capacity of 120, it is full for most age groups, with just five places left for infants under two.
Cleaner accused of killing Arab businessman
DUBAI - AUG 26: An Arab businessman was stabbed to death in his Dubai flat by a young cleaner who intended to rob him, police said yesterday.
The victim, identified as A A, was stabbed at least six times in the chest, shoulders and hip on Friday. He was found in a pool of blood in his bedroom after a worried friend called police.
The victim, aged 52 and single, was from an undisclosed neighbouring Gulf state and had been living in the UAE for two years.
A 20-year-old Bangladeshi has been charged in connection with the killing. Police said the man, identified as N K B, had met the victim 15 days before the attack and had been working illegally for him as a cleaner. N K B is alleged to have planned to carry out the attack on his second visit to the victim’s flat.
“The suspect had planned to kill the victim [whom] he believed to be wealthy,” said Col Khalil Ibrahim al Mansouri, the chief of the crime unit at the criminal investigation department at Dubai police.
“He attacked him with a knife he obtained from the victim’s house and fatally stabbed him multiple times,” Col Mansouri said.
“He then carried out an extensive search through the victim’s belongings in search of valuables, but didn’t find anything,” he added.
Four suitcases were cut open, but the only items stolen were a razor, camera, an empty wallet and a kitchen knife, he said.
Police said the attacker was injured when the victim fought back in a desperate attempt to save his life and the assailant’s blood had been found at the scene.
N K B was arrested 16 hours later in a nearby flat.
Col Mansouri warned residents against hiring illegal workers and allowing them inside their homes. “People should never invite anyone who is illegal to work for them,” he said.
Although the crime rate in the city has risen in the past few years, Dubai remains one of the safest cities in the world, according to police.
In 2007, there were 22 murders in Dubai. So far this year there have been 14, including the murder of the Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim, who was killed in her flat last month.