NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

‘Dream’ hospitals unveiled

ABU DHABI - MAY 05: Two of the oldest government hospitals in Abu Dhabi will be replaced with state-of-the-art facilities that will have almost 1,400 beds between them.

The plans to replace Al Mafraq Hospital and Al Ain Hospital were revealed yesterday by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, Seha. Both are more than 25 years old.

The hospitals, which currently have 843 beds between them, will be replaced by facilities that “redefine the level of medical services in Abu Dhabi” and will include the first dedicated stroke unit in the country, the Seha chief executive, Carl Stanifer, said in a statement released by the state news agency, WAM.

At the new Al Mafraq Hospital the outpatient clinic capacity will be increased by 70 per cent to 147 rooms and the number of treatment rooms more than tripled from 19 to 60. It will have 690 beds and cover 245,00 square metres with 1,300 parking spaces. The current hospital has 431 beds.

The new Al Ain Hospital will combine “the friendliness of an oasis village with state-of-the-art medical services”, Seha said.

It will have 688 beds and be spread across 358,000 square metres. It will include a regional centre of excellence for rehabilitation with the first stroke unit in the UAE, and a centre of excellence in trauma, orthopaedics and sports medicine.

Seha says it will also be affiliated with the UAE University and act as a research centre and teaching hospital.

The plans were viewed yesterday by Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Sheikh Khalifa said it was important that medical care and health services received the “utmost attention from the Government”, WAM reported.

Dr Ahmed al Mazrouei, chairman of the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi, said: “These two new state-of-the-art facilities have been carefully planned and conceptualised to offer the best health care services and standards to meet the expectations of the residents of the Emirate.”

In March, Seha announced there would be a number of upgrades to Al Ain Hospital this summer. Plans included new operating theatres and diagnostic radiology equipment. It was not clear yesterday whether these plans would still go ahead.

The hospital receives, on average, 350 patients per day and more than 320,000 patients a year are seen in the speciality outpatient clinics and family medicine centres. It is managed by the European company Vamed, which operates seven hospitals across the world.

Al Mafraq is also managed by an international firm, Bumrungrand.

Saif al Hameli, Seha’s facility and construction director, said there would also be an emphasis on making the buildings eco-friendly.

“The new facilities are designed using environmentally friendly and energy-efficient design elements.

“Waste water will be recycled, fibre optic interior sunlighting will be used to reduce electrical use, electrical lighting will be low-voltage LED-based and there will be extensive use of solar panels.”

Saif al Qubaisi, the chairman of Seha, said the plans formed part of the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan.

“Innovation, development and growth in the health care sector is part of vision Abu Dhabi 2030, and the new hospitals are a tangible realisation of the promise we have made to bring world-class health care to this emirate,” he said in a WAM statement.

“Both will be equipped with the most modern facilities and the latest equipment with the aim of creating excellence centres offering specialised treatment facilities and services.”

Mr Stanifer said the buildings would be “a dream in design for efficiency and practicality” for doctors and other health care professionals. “With a combination of 1,378 new beds, these two new health care facilities will redefine the level of medical services in Abu Dhabi and be a benchmark in medical excellence in the region.”

The plans were also viewed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, the Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, Sheikh Khalid bin Zayed, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa, the chairman of the Department of Finance, Sheikh Mohammed bin Butti al Hamed, the Ruler’s representative in the Western Region, and Ahmed Juma’a al Za’abi, the Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs.

Also yesterday Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed visited Etihad Airways and discussed the company’s future direction with its chief executive, James Hogan.

The President expressed satisfaction at the carrier’s growth, WAM reported.

“The progress the company has achieved over the few years since its launch and the projected growth constitute an effective contribution to growth and boom being witnessed by the UAE in general and in air transport in particular,” he said.

“This contribution will also boost the tourism sector in the country.”

Critics say property visa should last longer

UAE - May 05: The new federal law that entitles foreign owners of UAE property to a six-month multiple-entry visa in the emirates will come into effect June 1.

The news came at a press conference to clarify details of the visa, announced at the weekend.

While property developers and market analysts said the system would ease confusion over which emirates grant visas with property purchases, there was division over whether the move would trigger greater activity in the UAE’s depressed property market.

Several said the six-month duration of the visa was too short to entice people to buy, while the conditions for salary and property value mean thousands of homeowners would not be eligible.

Many said only a relaxation of mortgage lending terms would encourage more buyers.

Officials from the Department of Naturalisation and Residency (DNR) reiterated that applicants would have to own a property worth at least Dh1 million and earn at least Dh10,000 a month, or its equivalent in foreign currency. The income must come from outside the UAE; visa-holders will not be allowed to work here.

The visa will cost Dh2,000 to renew every six months, and applicants will have to leave the country to do so.

Seeking to describe the type of person likely to apply for the visa, Brig Gen Nasser al Minhali, acting director of the DNR, said: “It is not meant for people who want to invest or work here; such people could gain residency through other types of visas.

“Applicants for [the six-month] visas could be politicians or businessmen who wish to have a place in the UAE to live in and they cannot leave their businesses in their home countries and stay in the UAE the whole time.

 “So rather than applying for a visa every time they come in, they have the option of the six months renewable visa.”

Mr al Minhali said the department would tell existing holders of property-linked residency visas to “fix their status as per the new ruling or else they will be considered violators”.

Several property developers spoke in favour of the new visa, claiming that a situation in which some emirates allowed developers to sponsor homebuyers for residency, while others did not, created confusion.

Visa conditions do apply

A new federal law will entitle foreign owners of UAE property to a six-month multiple-entry visa as long as they meet certain conditions including:

• Property must be worth at least Dh1million.

• Applicant must be the sole owner of the house or apartment – empty land does not count.

• If the visa holder finds a job in the UAE during his stay, he should transfer his visa to his employer.

• The applicant must have a minimum income of Dh10,000 a month or its equivalent in foreign currency.

• The structure must be suitable for living and appropriate for the size of the family. A large family that owned a studio flat would be turned down.

• The value of the property is based on the contract signed during the purchase.

• The owner and the owner’s family must pass the country’s mandatory health screening for residents.

• The period of stay in the country for home owners is six months from the date of entry. Upon expiry, the homeowner must return to his or her home country or travel to any GCC destination before re-entering the UAE.
Peter Riddoch, chief executive of Damac Properties, said the law “brings much-awaited clarity on residency eligibility status for investors”.

Wael Tawil, the chief executive of Baniyas Investment and Development Company, said the decision would “renew the confidence of stakeholders in the property sector”.

“Definition of this law was crucial for the property sector and will positively influence other sectors of the local economy,” he said.

Ameya Salatry, head of legal at the estate agency Better Homes, said one advantage of the visa is that it would ease travel for investors from countries including India, Pakistan, Iran and Russia, who had faced tighter visitor visa rules in the past.

Now they would be able to visit more frequently to manage their properties, he said.

But, he said: “Six months’ permission to stay is very low and won’t benefit the owners.

“We expected the visa to encourage foreign investment into the nation’s real estate sector, but the law should have had a longer time frame and without a restriction of being tied to a property value.”

Mr Salatry also said the Dh10,000 salary condition “would be an obstacle” in the event that the owner lost his job and had no alternative salary.

However, he said the actual purpose of the visa was to allow foreign buyers to remain in the country for long periods of time to manage their homes or offices, for example, by renting them out.

“The purpose is not to guarantee an investor [will be able] to obtain six-month visa in the event of circumstances like loss of employment,” he said.

Vincent Easton, an independent property analyst, described the visa’s conditions as “benchmarks designed to attract a certain profile of resident”.

“There is no doubt residency visas are going to be an attractive proposition for many and the Government would need to tread carefully to avoid a flood of applications that could prove problematic in the future,” he said.

Taxi firms unite on hiring drivers

ABU DHABI - MAY 05:Taxi companies agreed yesterday to unify their pay structures and hiring processes in an attempt to attract drivers to the capital and curb discontent once they arrive.

The seven franchise holders plan will offer all new recruits the same package of salary, commission and accommodation.

A private firm, Sawaeed Employment, will take on responsibility for hiring, and will help train drivers to work in the capital.

An agreement will be signed tomorrow between the franchise holders and Sawaeed, said Abdulla Sultan al Sabbagh, general manager of the taxi regulator, TransAD. The scheme will then require government approval.

At present, the companies have different pay structures and hire their own recruiting agents to bring drivers from countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines.

However, when drivers arrive in Abu Dhabi and start comparing salaries and commission schemes, the disparities can lead to unrest and even protests, most recently in February. Some drivers choose to resign and return to their home countries.

“Previously we were doing our own recruiting, having different pay structures, competition,” said NH Mohamed Ali, the assistant general manager for Cars Taxi, at a presentation by Sawaeed at the Shangri-La Hotel yesterday.

 Because drivers compare their pay, it would be “better to have a unified pay structure,” he said.

Mir Mazhar Ahmed, the manager of Arabia Taxi Transportation, added that a unified scheme would help reduce the “attrition rate of drivers”.

Mr al Sabbagh said TransAD had nearly finished drawing up a new, unified pay scheme. It would be sent to the franchise holders for their observations when it was ready.

Obaid al Khameeri, Sawaeed’s chief executive, said the unified scheme would help all the companies get good drivers.

Otherwise, he said, “there is always one company that will be higher, so all drivers will be attracted to the highest”.

Sawaeed’s first aim would be to hire drivers for all 7,147 silver taxis that TransAD wants to be operating by December. So far, the franchise holders have approved permits for more than 3,000.

Once that target is met, the company would be expected to keep providing additional drivers to replace those that left or were not up to the required standard.

Under the plan, Sawaeed would send recruitment agents abroad to advertise jobs in Abu Dhabi, along with representatives from the Emirates Driving Company. Drivers would be interviewed and take road tests in their home countries.

Mr Khameeri said tough criteria would be set, including the ability to read and write. The company would provide some language training for drivers who did not speak both Arabic and English.

Those selected would be brought to the capital for between 45 and 60 days of comprehensive training.

They would learn about the city’s landmarks and culture, as well as its traffic rules and regulations, and would be trained in customer service and first aid.

Once the drivers received their residency visas they would receive both theoretical and practical driving training from the Emirates Driving Company.

Sawaeed would also house the drivers until they were trained and take care of administrative details including eye tests and fingerprinting.

Once all 7,147 cars are on the road, the number of journeys by silver taxi is expected to double from the current million per week.

The capital currently has about 10,000 taxis, a number TransAD intends to keep constant even as it phases out the older gold-and-white taxis, which are scheduled to be out of service by 2012.

It plans to achieve that either by allowing existing franchise holders to run more cabs or by striking contracts with more companies.

Mr al Sabbagh said drivers of the gold-and-white taxis were eligible to apply for the new jobs through Sawaeed, but few had the required combination of driving skills, knowledge of the emirate, proficiency in Arabic and English, and standards of hygiene and behaviour.

Mexican official pleads for fair play on flu

DUBAI - MAY 05: The Mexican consul general urged Arab countries yesterday not to discriminate against his fellow nationals during the global swine flu alert.

Francisco Alfonso said he had been in regular contact with the Ministry of Health and appreciated that the Government was following World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines about not restricting any travel.

He also said swine flu was a global problem and therefore it was not right for the world’s attention to be focused solely on Mexico.

“It is a global issue and we ask everybody all over the world to act like this,” he said.

“We are very satisfied with the way the UAE Government has acted, they have been very understanding and very friendly to us.”

About 800 Mexicans live in the UAE but the consulate has received only a handful of phone calls about the flu.

One came from a UAE resident who was worried about going on a trip she had booked to Europe.

“She was concerned that she would have travel problems and may not get back into the UAE,” Mr Alfonso said. “But we assured her it was fine to travel.”

He also said the number of people contacting the consulate had dropped from an average of 10 per day to five, but said this was expected and inevitable.

This week, the WHO stopped using the term “swine flu” and said it would instead refer to the virus as influenza A(H1N1), its scientific name.

It also reiterated its message that travel restrictions were not advised and efforts should be focused on mitigation.

So far 20 countries have reported almost 1,000 cases of the disease. These include 15 in Britain, 85 in Canada, 40 in Spain and three in Israel.

The UAE has not reported any cases and is using thermal scanners at its borders to detect passengers with body temperatures above 38°C.

“We are very pleased with what the UAE has done, and that it has kept its borders open,” Mr Alfonso said. “It is damaging to the global economy if countries start banning flights.”

The consul general also said he was pleased with the WHO’s decision to rename the flu and hoped it would minimise the damage to the pork industry.

Egypt has been widely condemned for culling up to 300,000 pigs. Many countries, including the UAE, have placed temporary bans on pork imports, despite the WHO’s repeated insistence that there is no threat from eating the meat.

“Of course each country can do what they will like,” Mr Alfonso said. “The UAE has put a ban but I think it is only temporary. It is not right that the industry should suffer.”

Mexican officials criticised China this week, claiming it has unfairly quarantining Mexicans living in the country. They said up to 70 Mexican nationals had been isolated, despite having had no contact with China’s sole confirmed case, who was on a plane from Mexico to Hong Kong, via Shanghai.

The Mexican foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, said she was “surprised” by the measures taken by countries including Peru, Ecuador and Cuba, which have suspended flights from Mexico.

“I am pleased that the UAE is following all of the information from the WHO and not discriminating,” Mr Alfonso said. “We do not need discrimination, we need support.”