NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL/GULF TODAY

Traffic movement smooth in Dubai

DUBAI - JUNE 04:TRAFFIC flow in Dubai has improved by 30 per cent, whereas time wasted in traffic jams has also reduced from Dhs5.9bn to 4bn, which is 32 per cent.

While briefing the German delegation of four people on Tuesday led by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Economics, Labour and Transport of Lower Saxony, Stefan Kapferer, the Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Mattar Al Tayer attributed the positive developments to widened lanes and roads.

"In a space of less than three years, the numbers of lanes crossing Dubai Creek have been increased from 19 to 48 which is 153 per cent; and the number of lanes of main roads have been increased from 36 to 66 lanes (83 per cent)," he said. At the outset of the meeting, Tayer praised the quality of the German products and singled out the superb quality of German technologies in buses and transport systems.

Tayer also gave the visiting delegation a brief introduction to the RTA and projects undertaken including Dubai Metro; which is progressing on schedule with the Red Line set for completion in September 2009. It extends 52 km and covers 29 stations; 4 of which are underground (Burjuman, Union Square, Riqqa and Port Saeed) and 25 elevated stations. The Green Line extends 23 km and covers 18 stations; 6 of which underground and 12 elevated stations.

"RTA is targeting to upgrade the contribution of mass transit system from 6 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020. To achieve that RTA procured advanced and new buses and in the process the bus fleet jumped from 560 at the time of establishing RTA to 2100 by mid of 2010, and installed 770 air-conditioned bus shelters. All of these efforts led to increasing bus ridership from 85 million to 100 million passengers in 2008," said Tayer.

The German Minister hailed what he called the fastest development made by the emirate of Dubai in a record time making it an attractive destination for investors, businessmen and tourists. He attributed this to the vision of and wise leadership of the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

The boy who cannot cry

AL AIN - JUNE 04: More than anything else, what Merlyn Lumasag wants her son to do on his seventh birthday is cry.

James has been unable to shed any tears since the age of two, when he fell victim to a rare and distressing disease that fused his eyes shut and caused his skin to break out in painful blisters.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), which affects fewer than one person in a million, is a severe skin disease that can be caused by an allergic reaction to drugs; in James’s case, says his mother, it was “due to the antibiotic that the doctor prescribed him for a cough and fever”.

A week after he had been given the drugs at St Luke’s hospital in Manila, James’s skin blistered horrifically all over his body; not for nothing is TEN also sometimes called “scalded baby syndrome”.

The disease kills at least one in 10 people who contract it – and that figure can rise to 70 per cent, depending on the quality and speed of treatment.

Doctors warned James’s parents that their son might not survive.

“His whole body, except his head, looked totally burnt,” says his mother. “James suffered too much.”

He spent the month before his second birthday in intensive care at the hospital where, says his mother, he was seen by eight specialists and received 22 bags of plasma.

“He’s a survivor,” says his father, Noel Lumasag. “The doctor said he almost died. He said that we must accept what will happen and be grateful that he did not die.”

But survivors of the condition are often left with painful and disfiguring consequences. At first, James’s eyes fused shut and remained closed for 17 days, despite an attempt by an ophthalmologist to open them, removing some of the lashes in the process.

Eventually, James was able to open his eyes for himself, but the damage had been done; the allergic reaction had scarred his left eyeball and now his lashes grow inward, irritating the surfaces of the eyes and leaving them red and puffy.

His parents have been told he needs an operation to relieve this.

He is so sensitive to bright light that he has to wear sunglasses, even indoors. And, despite all the distressing pain and discomfort, he is unable to cry.

“He doesn’t tell us that it is uncomfortable for him but we can see because he rubs his eyes,” says Mrs Lumasag.

“If we go out into the sunlight he hugs me and looks at the ground. He can’t look up directly.”

Because his eyes lack the natural moisture of tears, each morning and evening his parents must pull back his eyelids and rub in ointment. On especially hot or dry days this must be done more often.

“The doctor said that if the eyes become dry they will develop cuts on them. In the summer it is the worst: the very bright light is hard for him.”

James is a shy child who avoids eye contact and would rather hug his mother than talk to strangers. When asked a question, he looks at her and whispers his answer into her ear.

There is one point, however, on which he is very clear: “No, I don’t like medicine on my eyes,” he says, before turning back to his mother.

There is no cure for TEN, but it is important that the symptoms are constantly monitored and managed.

Both of James’s parents, Filipinos who have lived in the UAE for two decades, work as support staff at a hospital, but this year their medical insurance plan was altered and no longer covers the Dh400 (US$65) cost of the boy’s regular appointments with an ophthalmologist.

In desperation, Mr and Mrs Lumasag are experimenting with various medications on the advice of pharmacists, but worry that they might not be doing the right thing for their child.

“James is almost seven years old and going to school now,” said Mr Lumasag. “Due to our financial situation we cannot afford to pay for his monthly check-ups.”

His wife added: “I don’t know what will happen in the future but I am praying to God that it will be OK.”

“We need this treatment, this medication, and we trust God. If there is a possibility to get him cured we have to do that.”

Yesterday the Dubai branch of Moorfields, the UK’s leading eye hospital, offered to carry out an initial examination of James free of charge after being contacted by The National.

“This nasty condition is essentially untreatable,” said Dr Chris Canning, the chief executive and medical director at the hospital, which opened in Healthcare City two years ago.

James Lumasag, seven, has trouble seeing because he suffers from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Delores Johnson / The National“

There is no miracle cure anywhere in the world but there are things that can be done to make life easier for James.

“It will almost certainly be a lifelong condition but working with our experts in London we can assess him, advise on options and put together a management programme.

“We can’t cure him, but we can contribute.”

Dr Canning sounded a note of caution, pointing out that depending on James’s condition his long-term eye care could prove expensive and his parents might still need to raise a considerable amount of money.

Nevertheless, James’s parents were thrilled to hear of Moorfields’ offer. “I am very happy and I thank God,” said Mrs Lumasag.

“God uses people on this Earth to do good things like this. I want to thank the hospital for agreeing to help my son.”

Despite his difficulties, James has learnt to speak English and Arabic as well as his native Tagalog.

He gets good grades at Jungle Book Nursery in Al Ain but, like most boys his age, he prefers to play on his PlayStation Portable or draw pictures, which he does for hours at a time.

As far as James is concerned, his future is settled: “I want to race a red car in the F1.”

For now, however, his parents have a more modest goal; they just want to stop his eyes from hurting.

Unlike her son, Mrs Lumasag has no shortage of tears. “If I could only give my tears to my child I would be happy,” she says.

Inflation reaches 2%, a 10-year low

UAE - JUNE 04: The first government release of month-by-month UAE economic data yesterday shows a levelling in the cost of living and the lowest rate of inflation in nearly a decade – figures that could benefit both consumers and the economy as a whole, experts say.

Since the beginning of the year, the annual rate of inflation has slowed to just 1.9 per cent from 7.2 per cent, the Ministry of Economy reported. Until the financial crisis hit late last summer, soaring inflation rates were the main economic bugbear in the Gulf, as prices spiralled upwards on the back of high oil prices and rapid economic growth, threatening to destabilise economies.

Since then, oil and commodity prices have fallen while property prices have dropped considerably in places like Dubai, which saw a 65 per cent decline from their peak in September, HSBC said on Sunday.

“The issue now is how long this period of weak prices plays out for. The main question is whether housing prices continue to fall or start to stabilise,” said Tim Fox, the chief economist at Emirates NBD, the largest UAE bank.

Housing and utilities costs, which make up nearly 40 per cent of the basket of goods and services that the Government uses to measure inflation, showed the biggest declines. The category’s price index fell by nearly 5 per cent during the first four months of the year. Food and beverage prices increased, but at a much slower rate than that of a year earlier.

But regardless of what the numbers show, they marked an important milestone for the Government, which has long been criticised by bankers and economists for not releasing price information frequently enough.

The new figures are broken down by month – a first for UAE inflation data – and are calculated using an up-to-date basket of goods to represent residents’ average expenditures.

The most recent official figures before yesterday’s showed inflation of 11.1 per cent in 2007 based on a basket of goods calculated in 2000.

“This data gives new scope for policy makers. It’s useful,” said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. “Before, it was mostly guesswork in terms of what some of the parameters were. Now you might have a better picture and be able to anticipate certain economic trends beforehand.”

Some analysts say falling property prices and cheaper food and drink could mean the cost of living actually decreases this year – a situation known as “deflation”.

“We are predicting deflation for this year, driven by falls in rents and food prices,” Mr Gokkent said.

Economists say such deflation would not usher in a period of economic malaise similar to that suffered by Japan in the 1990s, which also witnessed a period of deflation. Because of the UAE’s relatively young population and expectations of continued economic expansion, any period of deflation would probably be temporary, and more of an economic curiosity than a symptom of problems.

Annual inflation in January stood at 7.2 per cent, slowing to 6.2 per cent in February, 4.5 per cent in March and 1.9 per cent in April, according to the Ministry of Economy figures. In 2008, the average rate of inflation was 12.3 per cent. It peaked at 13.5 per cent in the second quarter of that year. .

Four held after $17m counterfeit notes find

UAE - June 4: Police in Ras al Khaimah have arrested four people and seized US$17 million in counterfeit cash.

The arrests came after an Arab national, who was allegedly in possession of US$20 million (Dh73m), tried to hire an Emirati man to convert the notes into dirhams, allegedly offering him Dh10 million for his services.

After watching the suspect, his wife and his home for five hours, officers from the RAK criminal investigation department instructed the Emirati to proceed with the arrangements.

The courts granted police a warrant to raid the house, where they found $17m in counterfeit cash. The suspect and his wife were arrested, and equipment that had allegedly been used to make the fake notes was seized.

Police said the couple had confessed, leading to the arrest of two other men. All the suspects are over 35 years of age. Lt Col Salam al Darmaky, the head of RAK CID, urged people to be alert against fraud and counterfeit notes.

The case has been forwarded to the Public Prosecution.

UAE testing Red Bull drinks for possible traces of cocaine

UAE - JUNE 04: Officials are currently testing Red Bull to find out if it has cocaine as an ingredient. Andrew Henderson / The National
Samples of Red Bull energy drinks in the UAE have been sent to laboratories for analysis after traces of cocaine were found in some of the company’s products in Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The General Secretariat of Municipalities (GSM) sent out a circular on Sunday calling for the energy drinks to be tested after reports of the illegal substance being detected in Red Bull products in other countries, an official said.

“There have been samples taken and they are on their way to these laboratories.”

Red Bull said, however, that it was “absolutely impossible” to find cocaine traces in its energy drinks.

In a statement from its Dubai-based Middle East and Africa office, the company cited analysis by the Austrian Belan Institute which concluded the beverages were cocaine-free. It said it used “de-cocainised” coca leaf extract as flavouring in one of its drinks, Red Bull Simply Cola, sold only in the US, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Russia.

The GSM official said the UAE was conducting its own investigation before coming to any conclusions. “We have to check, we have to wait and see what kind of contamination there is and then if there is any problem, definitely we will take action,” he said.

Dubai Government officials said they were waiting for guidance from Abu Dhabi Municipality before deciding on their next step. On Tuesday, two of Hong Kong’s largest supermarket chains, ParkNShop and Wellcome, pulled Red Bull drinks from their shelves after the Department of Health and Centre for Food Safety said it found “extremely low” levels of cocaine in Red Bull Cola, Red Bull Sugar-Free and Red Bull Energy Drink imported from Austria and the UK. The Hong Kong department said it found trace amounts, which ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 micrograms per can, but normal consumption of the beverage would not have any detrimental or psychotropic effects.

The UAE has a zero-tolerance drug policy, however, and some offenders with trace amounts of cannabis have been sentenced to four years in jail.

The government of Jordan and several German states have asked retailers to stop selling Red Bull drinks. . Taiwanese authorities confiscated nearly 18,000 cases imported from Austria after tests detected cocaine in Red Bull beverages. However, the Hong Kong government said tests on further samples of Red Bull on Tuesday did not find any cocaine.

Abela Supermarkets, Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society and Al Maya Supermarkets said they would continue to sell Red Bull drinks unless they were told otherwise by government authorities.

“The general plan is that it will remain on sale until instructed by the municipality,” said David Berrick, the retail general manager of Abela.

Duncan James, strategy director with consultancy Brand Union in the Middle East, said Red Bull was a prominent brand in the region because of its popularity in nightclubs and through events such as the Abu Dhabi Red Bull Air Race.

The company must address the cocaine allegations directly to prevent long-term damage to the brand, especially in the UAE, he said.