NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Dubai and Abu Dhabi rise best cities list

A person rides a bike along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi - currently the Middle East's second best place to live, according to the survey. Andre Forget / The National

UAE: APR 29: Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the best places to live in the Middle East, according to an international survey of more than 200 cities.

Both cities have risen since last year in the rankings of the Mercer Quality of Life report, released yesterday. Dubai is the region’s highest-placed city and 77th out of 215 cities internationally, up from 83rd in 2008. The capital was placed second in the region and 84th overall, up from 87th.

Cities are judged against New York, which, because of its standing as a cosmopolitan and commercial hub, is used as a baseline. The report is compiled annually and distributed to multinational companies considering expanding.

Abu Dhabi’s high ranking was partially a result of its “increasing connectivity to the rest of the world” demonstrated through more international flights and schools, according to a regional associate of Mercer.

Dubai’s higher annual position was attributed to improvements in its transport infrastructure, expansion of its international airport, telecommunication infrastructure and consumer outlets, a press release from Mercer stated.

“The survey helps governments and companies with moving international assignments,” said Bassem Gazal, head of Mercer’s Information Product Solutions.

His colleague Marissa Directo, an associate at Mercer Middle East, said that when organisations are relocating, they need to be able to provide information like the cost of living for determining compensation packages and hardship allowances.

Each city in the survey is given a score out of 100 based on criteria including the political, social and economic climates as well as culture, availability and quality of education and transport.

“We’re seeing improvements in the region relating to quality of life,” Ms Directo said. Abu Dhabi’s rise resulted from “an increase in recreational and sports facilities, restaurants, its international airport and increasing connectivity to the rest of the world, more flights and more international schools.”

Mr Gazal said the better rankings of both cities were especially significant, given that they were not being compared with other Gulf cities but with New York.

Residents of Dubai and the capital who were interviewed were generally not surprised by the survey’s findings, although some felt there was still room for improvement in their chosen city.

Ajay Jaykumar, an IT professional from India, said: “I have travelled a lot in the Middle East and I can agree that Dubai has a better quality of life than any in the region. For me, Dubai is so close to home and is just like living in India with better salaries. Of course there are issues here, traffic and rents being the biggest. However, every city has some problems.”

Rafid Atrah, an Iraqi who has lived in Abu Dhabi for eight years, thought the quality of life very good, compared with other Arab countries. Apart from the good roads and buildings, there was the culture. “There are many types of people here, which makes it an interesting place,” he said.

“However, if you compare it with America or Europe, I think they have better education.”

Other residents were surprised that Dubai came out ahead of Abu Dhabi.

Maad Shihav, another Iraqi who has lived in the UAE for nine years, said: “Maybe Dubai is nice for the tourists, but not for the people who live there for a long time. It is a crowded city. Abu Dhabi has clean services.

“I work in Dubai on the Palm Jumeirah project but I live in Abu Dhabi with my family.”

The two cities are the only ones in the Middle East to make it into the top 100 of Mercer’s league table. Manama, in Bahrain, was ranked 111, Kuwait City 125, Riyadh and Jeddah 159 and 160.

Two Middle Eastern cities were in the bottom 25, with Sanaa, Yemen, at 210 and Baghdad ranked as having the lowest quality of life globally for the second year in a row.

A Mercer press release said that while improvements in infrastructure had been made in the Iraqi capital, lack of security and stability “continue to have a large impact on quality of life and the city’s score remains far behind”.

Judge calls for reform of blood money law

ABU DHABI - APR 29: New federal laws are needed on diyyah, or “blood money” so the amounts paid out to families are the same irrespective of whether the victims are men or women, the country’s top justice said yesterday. It is the first time he has spoken publicly on his position.

The diyyah, a mandatory payment made to the families of anyone killed accidentally by another person, is a common practice in Islamic countries.

“It is used in the UAE for two purposes: punishment and compensation,” said Dr Abdul Wahab Abdool, president and chief justice of the Federal Supreme Court. “The problem is that the federal law is vague on this topic, which is why different courts within the country have different interpretations for how the diyyah is applied.”

The UAE Constitution states simply that the diyyah is Dh200,000 (US$54,400).

“It doesn’t clarify if a woman is half the value of the man,” Dr Abdool said. “This is where the confusion is and why certain courts differ.”

The country’s 16 Supreme Court judges, including Dr Abdool, decided at a meeting on April 16 in Ras al Khaimah to recommend to the Judicial Co-ordination Council, which oversees the judicial systems at local and federal levels, that diyyah be the same for male and female victims.

“There was a clear decision that we all agreed,” Dr Abdool said. “More precise laws need to be adopted on a federal level to set this straight once and for all and avoid confusion.”

There are four supreme courts in the UAE, including the Federal Supreme Court. The others are in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and RAK, each of which has its own judicial process ranging from the court of first instance to a supreme court of cassation, which is the highest judicial authority in each emirate.

The other four emirates – Umm al Qaiwain, Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah – each has its own court of first instance and an appeal court. In those emirates, the Federal Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority. Abu Dhabi, Dubai and RAK apply equal diyyah for men and women, while the four other emirates, under the federal law, have remained divided.

“There is a conflict in the constitution in this area,” Dr Abdool said. “On one hand it calls for the equality between men and women; on the other hand it calls for the implementation of the Islamic Sharia law. Courts that have ruled women receive half the value of men relied on the Sharia law, while courts who applied equality relied on the constitutional right to equality between men and women. So legally speaking, both are right.”

It is popularly believed the source of women receiving half the value in diyyah is the Quran. But Dr Abdool noted that the Quran does not make reference to women receiving half the value in diyyah but only in inheritance. The Hadith – a collection of teachings from the Prophet Mohammed – extends this practice into the diyyah through interpretation, he said.

“In the UAE, it should not be that a woman is worth more in Abu Dhabi than in Ajman, for example. We are all equal as human beings.”

  
Call for minimum wage for workers

DUBAI - APR 29: A professional body called yesterday for a minimum wage for labourers, and for some form of workers’ representation.

Saleh al Marzouki, from the UAE Professional Associations’ Co-ordinating Committee (PACC), said no one should be deprived of their basic rights, which could include “things like remuneration and decent housing”. He added: “We should have a minimum salary.”

However, speaking at a labour and human rights seminar, he said that further deliberation was needed on how such a wage floor should be determined.

Dr Anwar Gargash, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, has previously acknowledged the need to consider a minimum wage. He said in November: “We need to go through the debate of whether a minimum wage would work here.”

The PACC was formed in the mid-1990s as a forum for professionals such as teachers and engineers. However, since then workers’ representation has not developed further, Mr al Marzouki said.

“We also need to find solutions on how we can find suitable representation for this environment and to find ways to introduce the expatriate workforce into the representation.”

Both issues have been raised in discussions on the UAE’s Decent Work Country Programme, being developed with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in consultation with the Ministry of Labour.

Dr Shaza al Jundi, regional programme officer for the ILO, said on the sidelines of the seminar: “It is important not to rush to sign the joining protocol, but the main thing is to make sure that the UAE has the capacity to implement the objectives of the programme.”

The UAE has outlined its priorities for the programme. Issues under discussion include social protection of the workforce and worker representation.

Contributions to the seminar showed that “the basic concept is accepted”, Dr al Jundi said. “But what we need to discuss is different forms of representation.”

Yesterday’s session also considered companies’ duty to adhere to human rights principles and the need for safer working conditions.

Graham McCaig, of Build Safe UAE, said that between 35 and 40 per cent of the UAE’s workforce was employed in construction.

“It is a basic human right to work in a safe environment and construction by nature is a dangerous area to work in,” he said.

The Ministry of Labour said it would hold further symposia on topics including protection of salaries, labour accommodation, health and safety standards.

During the two-day seminar, Saqr Ghobash, the Minister of Labour, spoke out against the employers that retain their workers’ passports.

“We need to ask ourselves is withholding passports an ultimate right of the employer? The answer is no, this is the property of a government and a personal belonging,” he said.

Taxi fares to start at Dh20 from Port Rashid

DUBAI - APR 29: Taxis will charge a pick-up fee of Dh20 to passengers they collect from the Cruise Terminal at Port Rashid, it was announced yesterday.

An internal Roads and Transport Authority committee recommended the change to Essa Abdul Rahman al Dosari, chief executive of the authority’s Public Transport Agency. He will enforce the fare from May 1.

“The decision was taken in order to cater to the rising demand for taxi service by passengers arriving at Dubai through Rashid Port,” Mr al Dosari said in a statement yesterday.

The move would “ensure the availability of the required number of taxis to wait for tourists and visitors” at the Cruise Terminal, and deliver them to their destinations “in a comfortable and smooth manner”.

Earlier this month, the RTA introduced new charges for the city’s taxis, including a minimum fare for every taxi ride in Dubai of Dh10. A starting fee of Dh20 was also set for journeys from Dubai to Sharjah.

Passengers were also told the charge for waiting time would be 50 fils per minute in addition to distance travelled. Previously, the first 10 minutes of a journey incurred no time-related charge.

At the time Mr al Dosari said the purpose of the minimum charges was to encourage taxi drivers to stop refusing to accept passengers for short distances and to make trips to Sharjah.

Jet alert closes runway at Dubai

DUBAI - APR 29: The main runway at Dubai International Airport was temporarily closed yesterday when an aircraft was forced to return shortly after take-off following an alert in its cargo hold.

An emergency evacuation of the Switzerland-bound Emirates Airline flight was ordered in response to a warning light coming on in the hold.

As a result, five flights were diverted to neighbouring emirates. A spokesman said the plane landed without a problem and that the evacuation went smoothly.

He said it was not known what had caused the warning light to come on, but a similar situation had occurred in the past when the hold temperature increased.

The passengers were put on another Emirates flight to Zurich.

A 24-year-old American, travelling to Beirut via Bahrain with Gulf Air, said her plane sat on the runway for an hour while she and the other passengers waited for the Emirates jet to evacuate its passengers.

“They said there was an emergency evacuation of another plane, but that was it,” she said.

The delay meant she missed her connection, forcing her to spend last night in Bahrain before catching the next flight this morning.

Official promises to help retailers

ABU DHABI - APR 29: The municipality has pledged to find a solution to the disruption caused to shops and restaurants by construction work on Salam Street, a senior official disclosed. Abdulla al Shamsi, the director of roads, infrastructure and municipal assets, said the municipality was aware of the problem facing businesses in the area and a settlement was being discussed. Retailers would appreciate the “unique location” later on, he said.

Businesses on Salam Street say they have seen customer numbers fall by as much as 75 per cent over the past three months as people avoid the area because of heavy traffic and a lack of parking spaces.

“We are studying the problem and we have to discuss it with them and see what kind of solution we can come to,” said Mr al Shamsi, speaking at a briefing on the progress of the construction work. “No issue will be ignored, and this issue is very clear to us.”

Ahmed al Sayari, the manager of the Salam Street Development project, said the municipality was contacting businesses to discuss grievances, but people with complaints could also call 993, the municipality’s 24-hour hotline.

The Dh5 billion (US$1.4bn) project to double Salam Street’s traffic capacity is divided into four construction projects contracted out to different companies. The first, located in the downtown Tourist Club Area, has caused the most disruption for residents and shops, but Mr al Shamsi said establishments in the area would benefit in the long term.

“These businesses and shops will appreciate the location later on, they will be in a unique location.” When the work is complete motorists will be able to drive from the Meena area to the new Sheikh Zayed Bridge without meeting a single traffic light.

Salam Street businesses hope, however, there may be some form of compensation. Helen Rashid, the owner of Helen Beauty Centre, said her salon was losing about Dh90,000 a month, some 30 per cent of her sales.

“We still have business from people in walking distance but nobody else can get here easily. Everybody’s complaining. Restaurants are very much affected and who would come and buy from a furniture shop around here?”

Kwality Restaurant, which opens directly on to the construction site, has also lost as much as a third of its business, about Dh50,000, in revenue each month.

“There’s been a big impact,” said Valerian Mathias, the manager.

“It’s had a big effect, especially on our dine-in customers; people can’t find any parking, they have to park on Hamdan Street and walk and come from the back.”

Sumesh CS, a salesman at the Flowers Council, said two sales assistants had been sent home on unpaid leave since construction began.

The strain shows in shop windows, too, as businesses cut prices to attract customers. Numerous shops, including Sidique Gifts and Interior Furniture, were advertising discounts and promotions.

Clock Tower Trading, a convenience store a few hundred metres away from where workers are excavating a 3.2km tunnel, is offering a Dh10 gift for every Dh100 spent in the shop.

Residents have been affected, too, and say the noise of drilling and heavy machinery 24 hours a day is causing sleepless nights. In a flat nearby, The National has recorded noise levels as high as 71dB in the early hours of the morning.

Mr al Shamsi said the municipality was doing its best to address traffic, parking and noise problems and asked people to “be patient”.

He added that the projects observed Ministry of Environment guidelines on noise levels.

Mr al Sayari said the work was “basically on track” although there had been “some delays” to the first contract because of problems arising from the heavily built-up nature of the area. However, the project was 26 per cent complete and still on course to be finished in October 2010.

The other two contracts currently under construction were also on track; a fourth was still under the tender process and a contractor would probably be signed up next month, Mr al Sayari said.

Costs might be lower than originally estimated as the price of construction materials including cement had dropped significantly since the first three contracts were signed.