Dubai opens 8 public parks this week

BY PMA RASHEED

9 March 2010, The Gulf Today

The civic body in Dubai unveils a total of eight public parks in various locations of the emirate by the end of this week.

The parks built by Dubai Municipality (DM) are opening to the public as part of the civic bodyÕs 30th edition of Plantation Week activities that is observed untill March 11.

Three pond parks have already been opened in two days, one in Al Barsha on Sunday, and two others in the Al Nahda and Al Quoz areas on Monday.

A senior DM official has said that two other parks, Al Qusais-3 Pond Park and New Garhoud Park, have been scheduled to inaugurate on Tuesday.

Ahmed AbdulKarim, Director of Public Parks and Horticulture Department at the DM, said, “Qusais Residential Park and Al Wuheida School Park will be opened on Wednesday.”

“The newly-developed public parks, with a total of 162 hectares, have been facilitated with landscaped gardens and green areas. A range of facilities for recreational activities including tennis and volleyball courts, football fields, jogging and cycling tracks, and skating areas have been provided at the parks,” he added.

According to AbdulKarim, boats can be operates at the Al Barsha pond park, which is measured at 4.8 hectares, and in the vicinity of the Mall of the Emirates area that witnesses a rapidly developing residential community. The park has got a 1.4 kilometre lengthy jogging and cycle track. Floating restaurants will be set up at the park soon.

“The Al Nahda pond park is one of the most comprehensive theme parks built in the city in the recent period, as it is the first entertainment facility in the Al Nahda area, the newest urban residential area proximate to Dubai and Sharjah border,” he added.

“The park was constructed at a cost of about Dhs22 million at a total area of about 14.6 hectares. The park is characterised with a large water area as the total area of the pond stretches to 80,000 square metres, which represents 54.4 per cent of the total area of the park,” noted AbdulKarim.

“Meanwhile, the Al Quoz Pond Park is characterised by a beautiful pond at an area of 45,000 square metres, covering 35.4 per cent of the park that spans in a total area of 127,000 square metres,” he said.

According to him, the project has been completed at a total cost of about Dhs16 million. The technical excellence of the entertainment projects have been carried out in accordance with the highest global standards in developing public parks and creating modern landscaping methods.

Hussain Naaser Lootah, Direcotr General of the Municipality, said, the parks have been launched as part of the civic body’s continuing efforts to improve the green areas of the emirate.

“The DM wants to support the residentsÕ sporting and recreational activities. The pond parks will also help reduce the water-logging issues during the rainy season,” he pointed out.

Dubai receives record rainfall

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 4 March 2010

Dubai had received a record total rainfall of about 812 cubic metres right through Tuesday's continued showers that disrupted the life in the Emirate with heavy water logging in its low-lying clusters.

During the early morning hours of Tuesday, the tidal stations of Dubai Municipality's (DM) Survey Department recorded rainfall that ranged from medium to heavy levels in part of the Emirate, according to the civic body sources.

The rate of rainfall registered in the DM's Jebel Ali station was 200 cubic metres, reaching a maximum rate of 20 cubic metres of water intensity with the minimum rate of water intensity being 4 cubic metres, said a senior DM member.

Mohammed Mashroom, Director of Survey Department of the DM, added that data from the Umm Suqeim monitoring station said the rainfall recorded over there was 204 cubic metres, with a maximum water intensity at 20 cubic metres and 4 cubic metres minimum.

"Meanwhile, the Jaddaf monitoring station in Dubai registered 216 cubic metres of rainfall during the first few hours. The highest rate of water intensity over there was 12 cubic metres, and the lowest rate was 4 cubic metres," explained Mashroom.

According to him, the average rainfall recorded in Dubai Marina station was 192 cubic metres, with a maximum rainfall intensity of 8 cubic metres and a minimum of 4 cubic metres.

Abdulmajeed Sifai, Director of the Sewage Network Department of the Municipality, said the volume of storm water drainage through the drainage network during the past 24 hours amounted at 936,000 cubic metres, which was discharged at 46 approved discharge points.

"The situation was brought under control using 39 tankers and 89 sucking pumps of the Municipality. Each tanker took 15 to 20 trips depending on the distance of discharge," he added.

According to him, the Municipality's emergency operations teams, formed by its operations and cleaning services section, were deployed at areas where water ponds took shape due to the heavy downpour.

Sifai noted, "The Municipal emergency management teams with a human resource capacity of up to 550 members, including administrative staff, engineers, technicians and labourers were put on high alert with the operation divided in to two shifts, apart from the normal schedule."

"The civic body had mobilised its complete resources to manage the emergency situation shaped due to the unsettled and irregular climatic transformation, alerted by the Meteorology Centre predictions," he said.

Hassan Makki, Director of Waste Management Department at the DM, said, "Upon receiving complaints at the DM Call Centre as well as the communications and calls from inspectors, the emergency management team members were immediately deployed in the concerend location to ease the situation," he added.

Sifai pointed out that the emergency teams also responded to reports received about the waste containers that were moved away from their original locations. The waste that had spilled out of the containers due to the strong wind were collected and deposited back into the containers until the arrival of the garbage trucks.

"The team also cleaned up the main streets of the sand accumulated on the shoulders of the streets that was causing obstruction to traffic. Work is still in force in accordance with our plan of action," he added.
(Pic Kamal Kassim)

Damage control gets going on war footing

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 3 March 2010

Pix by Nisham A Manaf

The heavy rains across the country right through Monday night and the continued drizzle till Tuesday evening, caused heavy water-logging in the low-lying clusters of the Emirate of Dubai.

The rainwater, mixed with drainage, accumulated in the industrial areas of the Emirate, forcing the civic body's emergency teams to attend to the affected areas round-the-clock. Worst hit were the low-lying locations in the Emirate.

A senior official of Dubai Municipality (DM) told The Gulf Today that the civic body activated its emergency rain response system, deploying several teams to control the repercussions of the downpour.

Abdul Majid Al Shifai, Director of Irrigation and Drainage Network Department, said employees from the operations and cleaning services section of the Municipality's waste management department pumped out water that had accumulated in Al Quos, Al Qusiais, Jebal Ali and Al Aweer areas.

"Trying to ease the burden on public life in the affected areas, the Municipality has installed its full set of equipments and human resources. About 39 tankers were arranged to collect water in Al Quos area only. Total 89 pumps have been set up, and around 300 employees were involved in the emergency operations until evening," he explained.

Meanwhile, the seashore-proximate Jumeirah and Umm Suqeim areas have been comparatively less affected by the flooding, contrary to earlier reports.

Saidul Abid, a Dubai-based specialist in waste management operations, said that most of the areas from Al Qusais towards the Jebel Ali Industrial Zone, witnessed heavy water-logging that spread to the Emirates Road.

"The water-logging occurred in most of the locations due to overflowing of drainage systems. As for the stink that emanated from the drains, it caused further discomfort to the residents," he added.

Hassan Mohammed Makki, Director of the DM's Waste Management Department had earlier said that the Municipality assigned an exclusive team for cleaning up the storm water drainage system.

"The civic body's emergency team removed remnants of trees uprooted due to rain and storm that also caused the municipal waste containers to move away from the places they were positioned," said Shifai.

"Work is still in force in accordance with the plan of action set for team members," he added.

Dubai aquarium crack creates 'online' flutter

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 27 Feb 2010

The aquarium crack created waves in the social networking world. Tweeters and facebook bugs bombarded "eyewitness" accounts and expressed anxieties over possible damages to the world's largest fish tank.

A tweeter from the mall commented like this, "Former top UN arms inspector Dr Hans Blix escaped from the Dubai Mall Aquarium this afternoon." Incidentally, Dr Blix is the head of the UAE's nuclear advisory body. The Ministry of Presidential Affairs has announced the establishment of an International Advisory Board (IAB) for the development of nuclear energy with former UN chief inspector Dr Hans Blix as its chairman.

As for tweeter Andrew Wheeler, the crack in the giant aquarium containing over 400 sharks and rays, seems to have the trappings for a great B movie plot.

Laura Mccabe did not waste much time. She created an independent page on Facebook within hours of the disaster. The page titled 'Dubai mall aquarium who done it?" explained itself, "Dubai mall aquarium has cracked up, news sources have suggested mass break out." The community discussion panel also raised questions like who broke the aquarium? What's your theory? Do you have any proof?

For Irfan Manga, the Dubai mall aquarium leak is not so big after all. But Ad Executive Jeremy Hawking says that that was why he always got anxious while at the underground level.

Amit, senior art designer of Femina, has sent a Twitter message to Indian actor and UN's goodwill ambassador Lara Dutta (who is supposed to be on a visit to Dubai), "Hey, have you come back from Dubai, have you heard the Aquarium in Dubai Mall leaked....yeah."

Tweeters like Kathy Cheung Kaki were wonderstruck to see pictures of the water tank crack posted on Twitter by an amateur photographer.

Enterprise application architect Abdul Aleem was an eye-witness to the Dubai water leaking slowly and flooding the mall, according to his tweets.

The anxiety of Sarah A S, as she expressed on Twitter, was about all those cute giant sharks in the cracked aquarium.

Director and author Abulhoul rushed to Dubai Mall after the incident with his friends. "Would people stop making a fuss out of the leak?" he tweeted.

Meanwhile, some geeks were seen online asking fellow geeks, "Guys... is all of Dubai Mall closed? Or just the aquarium part?"

Fresh food market stands strong despite turmoil

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 17 Feb 2010

The business of fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants stays afresh in the Gulf region despite the turbulences caused by the global financial crisis, say experts.

The prosperity and vibrant achievements in the fresh food markets have been attributed to consumption by the region's large overall expatriate population, which always prefers to grab fresh food products of their own countries.

A recent market research report has revealed that Dubai has witnessed a significant increase estimated at 40 per cent in the import of fruit and vegetable commodities since 2007, to reach over two billion US dollars in value.

"Dubai's strategic location as a staging post midway between the east and west has served the UAE's perishables industries well, with the facilities at Dubai Airport seeing imports of fruit and vegetables jumping by 36 per cent in 2008 and sustaining this level through 2009," showed the latest market reports.

It said that apple, banana and orange are the fruits with the highest local demand, while the list of vegetables shows onion, potato and tomato on top of consumption by the residents in Dubai.

Mona El Dada, Project Manager for Planetfair, said that the strategic geographic position and infrastructure of highest standards in Dubai have made the city a global hub for both the business sectors that remained fresh and full of vitality throughout the recent economic downturn.

She was speaking to the media on Tuesday on the occasion of announcing the 2010 edition of the region's largest trade shows for perishables and plants.

According to her, the appetite for fresh fruits and vegetables as well as the love of plants and flowers in the Gulf remained strong despite the global downturn.

The World of Perishables (WOP) and International Plant Expo Middle East (IPM) will take place between 8 and 10 in March at Dubai Airport Expo Convention Centre, organised by Planetfair Dubai and Messe Essen GmbH Germany, in association with Dubai Municipality and Dubai Central Fruit and Vegetable Market.

Abdulla Mohammed Rafia, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for General Support Services Sector, said that the Dubai Central Fruits and Vegetable Market located in Al Aweer had received a total of 38,838 fruit and vegetable delivery trucks in 2009.

He added that the Gulf's biggest market for import and export of perishables marked an increase at 12 per cent compared to the previous year business.

"India topped the list of countries with the highest tonnage of imports and re-exports to Dubai estimated respectively at 314,316 and 157,257 tonnes (per produce weight) in 2009," said Rafia.

"The total re-export to other Gulf States from Dubai during the same period, has also been estimated at a total of 226,273 tonnes. The import from Saudi Arabia only has been accounted at 307 trucks being received into Al Aweer market from the KSA," he pointed out.

According to Dada, both the trade shows capitalise on the resilience of the perishables and horticultural business, exemplified by the sustained demand for fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers.

"Being the region's only dedicated trade fair for fruits and vegetables, the WOP will witness participation of about 85 exhibitors from 18 countries this year, in addition to seven individual country pavilions from China, Malaysia, Mexico, Tanzania, Egypt, Jordan and Kenya. The exhibition space coverage has also been increased by 30 per cent this year," she added.

The fifth edition of IPM-the region's largest plant and flowers trade fair will feature international exhibitors from the sectors of flowers and plants trading, as well as plant maintenance and related technology areas, sales promotions and logistics, she added.

Landlords of violating villas to be prosecuted

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 10 Feb 2010

Landlords who rent out multi-family shared villas and residential premises in Dubai will be prosecuted if they do not adhere to the civic body's final eviction deadline, the chief of Dubai Municipality (DM) warned on Tuesday.The multi-family sharing villas in the emirate have only less than a week to comply with the civic regulations prohibiting overcrowding and construction of unauthorised partitions in buildings.

The DM had set last Sunday the final warning for tenants and landlords to vacate family-overcrowded villas before Feb.14. It warned that in case of failure to do so, utility services to these buildings will be disconnected in addition to demolishing such structures to remove the irregularities.Lootah pointed out that that overcrowding in villas raise a range of issues concerning public safety and health measures. Unhygienic practices increase put the residents' lives and health in heavy risks.

"The civic body's aim is to ensure the human rights of the residents of Dubai, by ensuring them the highest standards of quality life," he added.

As part of strengthening the civic body's building and public safety regulations, bachelors also were told to move from residential areas to the designated destinations in different parts of the city.

Lootah said that the bachelors living in apartments or premises where families are occupied should also have to shift to non-family residential areas in order to avoid complications and security issues of mingling with families.The move comes into effect further intensifying the "One Villa One Family" campaign, launched by the Municipality in the 2008, forcing hundreds of low-income families to move out of shared villas.

The municipality launched the campaign in May 2008, stating that villas could be occupied by only one family. Bachelors could not stay in villas and were ordered to move to labour accommodation or apartments.

Many tenants, mostly families, moved out following the action but many others continue to live in these villas.According to the final announcement, the civic body will activate the role of community partnership in its efforts to maintain the emirate of Dubai free of building violations and unplanned growth.The DM called upon landlords and tenants who are violating building rules such as overcrowding families and bachelors that they should participate in these efforts and correct their status before the one-week deadline. Municipal inspectors had earlier slapped notices on overcrowded villas, warning tenants to move out or face fines and having the utilities cut off. Hefty fines of Dhs.50,000 were imposed on a number of landlords.

"Inspections have been strengthened to disconnect water, electricity and sewage in violating villas, so the tenants will be forced to vacate the crowded villas," said Omar Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Head of Building Inspection Section of the DM.Earlier, the DM had confiscated power generators illegally used by tenants, whose electricity and water connections were severed by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).The multi-family villas are mostly seen in the city's densely populated areas like Satwa, Rashidiya, Bur Dubai, Deira and Hor al Anz.

Dubai Municipality had earlier revealed that about 14,000 villas were found in Dubai violating building rules since the launch of the "One Villa One Family" campaign.

Meanwhile, many families and bachelors living in shared residential premises have complained about their difficulties to find affordable housing in the emirate.

"During the second phase of the campaign, civic inspectors detected many single villas shared by more than one family and they used diesel generators for electricity supply, in violation of the building rules," said a DM official earlier.

AbdulRahman said that multiple families staying in one residential unit after illegally making alterations inside the building would not all be tolerated as the municipality focused on providing the highest standards of public safety and health measures.

"It is against the rules and regulations regarding building safety as well as the social and urban planning norms. The warning was a continuation of an initiative unveiled in 2005, against bachelors living in family residential areas," he noted.

"Accordingly, the municipality had notified the building owners as well real estate agencies not to rent out villas to bachelors and to allow only one family to live in single residential units," he added.

The service amenities like water, electricity and sewage are provided to residential units according to the building plans. When the residential unit is used by more families against the plan, it becomes difficult to manage resulting in the accumulation of waste, affecting public safety and environment," he explained.

Unified mechanism to upgrade govt. services

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 8 Feb 2010

PROCESSES are underway to implement a unified feedback mechanism across all the government entities in Dubai, aimed to improve the quality of the services provided to public.

The revolutionary system will be operated by the Dubai Government's The Executive Council (TEC), which started visiting various governmental organisations to discuss the unified suggestions system.

The TEC is in the process of unifying the feedback system across all government entities in the Emirate of Dubai so as to develop a common feedback mechanism, which it intends to apply across the government sector shortly, according to a senior official.

El Hadi Mohamed Idris Ibrahim, project manager of the Customer Relationship Management at TEC, said the service improvement department at TEC is conducting meetings with government organisations, as part of its process to implement this system.

"The unification system is equipped with modern technology and innovative solutions to best channel the feedback from the government sector employees," he added.

According to him, it will also help to foster an environment of creativity as it will encourage government employees and customers to present their ideas that are aimed to benefit the existing policies, processes and services within the government sectors.

A senior delegation of TEC has visited Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Sunday.

Hazza Al Neaimi, another official of the Service Improvement Department of TEC, explained that the government departments, including DHA, presently have their own systems to collect and process feedback as well as new ideas which are used to further improve the quality of services that the organisation provides.

"The meeting with the DHA discussed and presented the feedback mechanism as the health authority can benefit from the unified feedback system once it's implemented," he added.

The DHA team discussed the operational aspects of the current system and how it is being used to collect feedback from its employees and clients.

Overcrowded villas: Municipality cracks whip

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 8 Feb 2010

A final warning has been issued by Dubai's civic authorities for complete evacuation of villas that are overcrowded with multiple families. Also, bachelors have been ordered to move out from areas where families reside, within a week's time.

Further enforcing the "One Villa One Family" campaign launched in 2008, Dubai Municipality (DM) announced on Sunday through a newspaper advertisement that residential premises housing multiple families should be vacated before Feb.14. This is in strict compliance with the civic body's building and public safety regulations.

According to the advert, the bachelors living in apartments or premises where families are occupied should also have to shift to non-family residential areas in order to avoid complications and security issues associated with mingling among families.

Further intensifying its actions against multiple-family villas, the Municipality said, "If the landlords or tenants fail to comply with the civic body's building and residential rules within the prescribed time-frame, water and power supply services to such premises will be disconnected and all future transactions with them would be stopped."

Earlier, the DM had confiscated power generators illegally used by tenants, whose electricity and water connections were severed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

The Municipality also has planned to demolish residences that are caught in violation of the latest notice.

However, no official of the Dubai Municipality was available to comment further on the issue on Sunday.

"The latest notice has been issued in order to activate the role of community partnership in its efforts to maintain the Emirate of Dubai free of building violations and unplanned growth," said the advert.

It called upon the landlords and tenants who are violating building rules such as overcrowding families and bachelors that they should cooperate with these efforts before the one-week deadline.

Dubai Municipality had earlier revealed that about 14,000 villas were found in Dubai violating building rules since the launch of the "One Villa One Family" campaign.

"During the second phase of the campaign, civic inspectors detected many single villas shared by more than one family and they used diesel generators for electricity supply, in violation of the building rules," said a DM official earlier.

Omar Mohammed AbdulRahman, Head of Building Inspection Section in the Buildings Department at the DM, said that multiple families staying in one residential unit after illegally making alterations inside the building would not be tolerated as the Municipality focused on providing the highest standards of public safety and health measures.

"Accordingly, the municipality had notified the building owners as well real estate agencies not to rent out villas to bachelors and to allow only one family to live in single residential units," he added.

'Defacing Dubai not on'

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 3 Feb 2010

Penal actions, including a fine of Dhs200 will be slapped on those putting up posters on walls or at any other public spot in the Emirate of Dubai, starting from Tuesday.

The Dubai Municipality's (DM) move against the offending residents comes in the wake of increase in the trend of stickers, flyers and posters in public places, which adversely affects cleanliness and mars the city's beauty of the city.

A senior official at the Municipality told The Gulf Today that the practice will not at all be tolerated in the Emirate, as some people play over-smart to escape the expenditure of releasing advertisements in newspapers or other media.

Titled "Sticker Removal" campaign, the DM launched a new environmental initiative on Tuesday to clean up the ugly walls in various locations of the emirate.

Starting from Karama Park, 300 volunteers from private sector companies, 50 municipal labourers and DM officials took to the streets of Karama and Satwa districts on Tuesday morning and torn down posters and flyers, as part of the week-long campaign.

Suhail Mohammed Sayyid Al Awadhi, Head of Operations and Cleaning Services Section at the DM, said that Karama has been chosen to launch the campaign, as it has become the Emirate's worst affected residential region with illegal and ugly posters in public places.

"The civic body aims at changing the residents' attitude of fixing posters outdoors in order to enjoy the benefits of unpaid adverts. All the residents are urged to stop the practice that spoils the attraction as well as cleanliness of the city," he added.

"The advertisers, who stick posters in open places, will be approached by civic inspectors disguised as customers, through the provided telephone numbers on the adverts. Four teams of the undercover inspectors have been deployed in different locations to trap the offenders and issue fines on the spot," explained Al Awadhi.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the poster problem was particularly acute in Dubai, which has been barraged with thousands of posters, flyers and notices affixed on building walls, bus shelters, lamp posts or any available surface.

"The Karama, Satwa, Deira and Al Qusais areas in the Emirate have been identified as having the highest density of illegal posters and stickers," he added.

Al Awadhi said at least 15 to 20 people are being caught daily by the DM inspectors for posting stickers in open places. "Governmental organisations such as Etisalat, DEWA and RTA have also joined forces with the DM initiative, as their premises in various places are being used by illegal advertisers," he said.

"The removed sticker waste will be recycled by Emarat Union Company that has provided 40 baskets to collect the debris," said Al Awadhi.

"The next phase of the campaign will take part in May in Al Ras district spanning across Al Naser Square and Sabka areas in Deira," he added.

Counterfeiters face civic body's wrath

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 1 Feb 2010

Battling against counterfeit products being circulated in the emirate of Dubai, the civic authorities have ended up with impounding tens of thousands of such goods recently.

The huge quantity of fake products trapped by Dubai Municipality (DM) included pirated DVD prints of films, CD prints of pornographic movies and alcoholic beverages.

The operation has been carried out by the DM's special committee on disposal of unwanted materials, in cooperation and coordination with different competent government agencies.

A Municipality spokesperson said that all the products seized by the civic inspectors from different people and shops in various parts of the city have been confiscated, after taking necessary legal actions and penalties against the individuals involved.

"The amount of destroyed DVDs with pirated movies has been estimated at a total of 54,335 pieces, while the pornographic movies were measured at 1,701 pieces. About 998 bottles of alcoholic drinks were also confiscated," he said.

"The counterfeit products were destroyed at the Municipal garbage dump located in Al Qusais in the presence of representatives of the competent authorities along with officials and inspectors from the DM's Environment Department," added.

According to him, the action comes at a time when the Municipality inspection campaigns were on to control illegal street vendors.

"During the month of December the civic inspectors caught 178 street vendors, from whom a big quantity of items were confiscated, including 298 counterfeit products," said the spokesperson.

"The seizures ranged from fake and low-quality lifestyle products such as readymade garments and perfumes, as well as electronic products like cameras and watches imitating international brands," he pointed out.

"About 2,272 DVD prints with pirated films, 64 pornographic movies, in addition to 205 foodstuff items including boxes of fruits and vegetables were also been confiscated in December," he added.

"The civic affairs authority's efforts are focused on wiping out the business of fake consumer products from the Emirate. The civic officers carry out inspections on a daily basis aimed at maintaining the aesthetic appearance of the city as well as preserving the cultural heritage of the Emirate," he noted.

"The process of cracking down on illegal trading activities, besides protecting the genuine goods trade, significantly influences the lives of residents by causing a prevention of consumption of low quality counterfeit goods as well as indecent material."

"About nine inspectors at the DM's Control Unit of the Markets Administration Section in the Assets Management Department carry out regular checks to book the violators as per the rules issued in this regard," said the spokesperson.

Rare white lions arrive in Al Ain zoo

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 6 Jan 2010

Extremely rare species of two South African white lions have been added to the 4,300-member animal family at the popular zoo in Al AIn.

The African white lions' arrival at the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (AWPR) has signaled an urgent call to protect the conservation ambassadors from extinction.

The zoo authorities have informed that the public can catch a glimpse of the magnificent creatures from the beginning the first week of January.

A senior official of the AWPR, said, "The white lions were transported to the UAE by a passenger aircraft from Cape Town, South Africa in late November. The 18-month old lions are brother and sister."

Dr Mike Maunder, Chief Officer of Conservation, Collection and Education at the AWPR, said, "The White lions at AWPR help us highlight the plight of the lion in Africa, the loss of the lion in the rest of the world, and the need to conserve species and ecosystems."

"The white lions at the AWPR are not albino, their unique hair and skin pigmentation is caused by the presence of a recessive gene known as chinchilla or color inhibitor. The eyes, paw pads and skin of the white lions retain a bluish hue," he added.

Farshid Mehrdadfar, Animal Collection Manager at the AWPR, said, "The white lions, considered as ambassadors for their wild cousins, at the AWPR are a gift from the Sanbona Wildlife Reserve in South Africa. We showcase the essence of the lion as a predator and a carnivore, and talk about the issues related to the conservation of lions throughout Africa and how all of us can help protect the animal, the environment of the animal, and animals in general."

"Since their arrival at the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort, a highly specialised animal trainer has worked extensively with the white lions to acclimatise them to their new surroundings," he added.

Dr Maunder said that the white lions were first documented in 1972 in the Krueger National Park of South Africa, though legend and folklore suggest the white lions have existed for many ages.

"About 50 years ago the lion population exceeded 450,000 individuals. Only 20,000 lions survive in the wild at present. The wild African lions are now mostly found only in protected African wildlife reserves due to increased hunting, habitat loss and conflict with herdsmen," he explained. "The wild populations of African lions are collapsing and we're losing the African lions that are survived only in a few protected areas. Not long ago the African lion range spread from South Africa to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, and from Mesopotamia to India," said Dr Maunder.

Mohammed tweets thanks

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 5 Dec 2010

Immediately after the inauguration of Burj Khalifa, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minster and Vice-President of the UAE, and Ruler of the UAE, appeared on the micro-blogging web portal Twitter.

He tweeted, “I am at the inauguration of the Burj Dubai or Burj Khalifa, our newest landmark that will be marvelled at by people around the world.”

“The lights, fireworks and fountains were amazing. I hope you were watching!,” he said.

Sheikh Mohammed flashed the message of gratitude, “Thanks to all citizens and residents for your passionate support along Dubai's journey towards learning and excellence- may the vision continue.”

And he hoped all the people have enjoyed all the celebratory cultural events, performances and parades that took place in Dubai since Sunday.

Rebuilt Naif Souq ready for operations

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 29 Dec 2009

The authorities have started allocation of shop spaces at the reconstructed Naif Market that was completely gutted in a pre-dawn inferno that ravaged hundreds of retail outlets in April 2008.

A senior Dubai Municipality (DM) official said the innovated Naif Souq has been scheduled to reopen in the month of April or May.

The civic body's assets management department conducted a meeting on Sunday with the traders of the old Naif Souq to implement the mechanism of distributing spaces to the retail outlets.

Allocation norms

Khalifa Hareb, Director of the Department, said that all the traders who were running shops in the gutted market will be allocated the same space they had before the fire. The shops are being distributed by taking draws after classifying the traders into different groups according to the type of trade.

New Souq look

"The newly-constructed market houses 218 shops, with 111 shops on the ground floor and 107 shops on the first floor provided with a central air cooling system.

Incidentally, the old market had only 200 shops," he added.

The shops will be charged a revised rental rate as the new souq is a multi-storeyed building equipped with central AC and other modern amenities."

"The new Souq has four entrances and the basement parking facility can accommodate 99 vehicles. The souq houses three coffee shops on the ground floor, and 44 kiosks, two elevators and two lifts and other facilities including prayer spaces and toilets," he added.

According to him, two municipality offices are also set up on the first floor and one each on the ground floor and basement.

Hareb told the traders that the Abaya shops at the new souq will be shifted to the first floor.

Better services

Obaid Ibrahim, Head of Markets Section at the DM, said, "The DM will ensure to provide the best possible services in the souq, better than before."

"A temporary souq had been built about 500 metres away from the original market in July 2008, which was completed within 45 days, ahead of the scheduled period of 60 days," he added.

Ibrahim noted that the DM also had distributed compensation to the shop owners of the old Naif Souq. Also, the shop owners were exempted from paying any additional rents until the new Naif Souq was ready.

Over 350 food shipments rejected in Dubai

BY PMA RASHEED

17 Dec 2009, The Gulf Today

Dubai Municipality (DM) has rejected at least 352 food shipments that were found incompatible for consumption in laboratory tests carried out at the municipal facilities.

The civic body strengthened its restrictions and controls on import of foods to ensure that the eatables that come in are suitable for human consumption and contain no prohibited colours or risk-posing ingredients, according to a senior municipality official.

Iman Ali Al Bastaki, Head of the Food Trade Unit at DM said that the rejected food product shipments were identified from a total of 15,093 that came into Dubai during the month of November through the air and seaports of the emirate.

Rejection reasons

"Some shipments did not have the complete accompanying documentation required for import of food items into the country as per the rules and regulations," he said.

"The concerned regulations have been specified on the country's approved food labeling clauses. Besides, the importer has to have a licence to practise food trade activities," he added.

Al Bastaki pointed out, "The trader also has to meet the requirements on storage facilities of the particular food item, and sanitary and hygiene conditions of the highest standard need to be maintained."

Monitoring method

According to him, the ban on a specific food product is executed in accordance with the ministerial order and criteria drafted by the health authorities. The health control system of the municipality monitors all kinds of edible products imported through the ports of the Emirate.

"The DM electronically registers all food items imported by using an advanced global control system. It also puts tight controls on food items produced locally, with regulations that any food items should not be sold unless they are registered under the DM's regulatory system," she explained.

She noted that the provisions for control of domestic and imported foods ensure that the food item reaches to consumers with maximum safety. The system monitors each step of procedures from arrival of shipments to storage and distribution of the food items. The system also provides accurate specifications on the type of food and the results of sampling, as well as risk factors in the particular material.

The municipality has started applying new standards on food labeling regulations adopted by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, the food control bodies in the country.

Rain of phone calls to municipality

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 16 Dec 2009

The contact centre at Dubai Municipality (DM) has received a total of 2,165 calls from the residents of the emirate during the rainy days, with an average waiting time of 59 seconds between each call, revealed a senior DM official.

Khalid AbdulRahim Abdullah, Director of Customer Relations Department at the DM, said that the municipality has recorded at least 728 reports from the public, most of them faced serious disorders and blockage of the drainage networks.

"The demands were mounted for water extraction from residential areas as well as removal of fallen trees on the main roads. And some people complained about the delay of the emergency services that should be on time and quickly," he added.

Abdul Majeed Sifai, Director of the Sewage Network Department at DM said that the municipality's rainwater committee mainly focused on areas including Al Quoz, Al Qusais and Sonapur districts, which are having poor drainage network system. Additional employees were called to join work on a 12-hour shift due to the heavy pressure.

"Equipped with 70 portable pumps and 40 tankers of the municipality, over 300 workers were active round the clock since Thursday to avoid stagnation and to tackle the situation."

"The municipal workers were also deployed to remove rain water from streets and drainages in areas such as Al Rashidiya, Abu Hail, Al Barsha, Sheikh Zayed Road and Emirates Road areas," he added.

Sifai said the rain water extraction works were executed on the main roads in the vital areas, as priority was given to highways, where concentration of water or fallen trees affected traffic flow.

"The existing drainage system is capable of handling about 35 cubic millimetres of rain water. The emirate of Dubai received an unexpected amount of rainfall that came about 70 cubic millimetres that caused longer clean-up activities," he noted.

"It's estimated that 600,000 cubic metres of rain water have been cleared from flooded streets and roads.

According to Abdulla, the municipality contact centre continued to receive non-stop calls for 48 hours due to the incessant rainfall for three days.

"The DM team dealt with the emergencies of extracting rainwater from various areas simultaneously, as soon as possible in a record time of three minutes after receiving the call," he added.

Dubai has 14,000 violating villas

Drive dodgers' illegal generators confiscated as authorities continue to crack the whip

One Villa One Family Campaign

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 19 Nov 2009

About 14,000 villas in Dubai were found violating building rules since the launch of the 'One Villa One Family' campaign early in the year 2008, reveals Dubai Municipality (DM).

The civic body has further intensified its actions against multiple-family residing villas, with yet another move to confiscate power generators illegally used by tenants, whose electricity and water connections were severed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

According to the DM officials, some 19 illegally operated diesel generators had been confiscated from such multiple-family living villas during the first three days of the new phase of the campaign.

The DM had informed the offending owners and tenants through newspaper advertisements on its decision to confiscate generators of all the illegal residing facilities with effect from Nov.12, so that they are not left with any more excuses.

"The confiscated generators will not be returned to the law-breakers, as the action was in implementation of the Local Order No.3 for the year 1999 pertaining to organising construction work in Dubai," said a senior DM official.

Inspection's 2nd phase

Omar Mohammed AbdulRahman, Head of Building Inspection Section in the Buildings Department at the DM, said, "More than one family sharing single villas and illegally using diesel generators for electricity supply, in violation of the building rules, have been detected during the second phase of the inspection by civic body officials."

"The DM had given them a sufficient time-frame to vacate such villas, and accordingly their electricity and water supplies were disconnected in cooperation with Dewa, as the grace periods lapsed," he added.

According to him, as the offenders were illegally using the diesel generators, it resulted in creating a lot of environmental hazards - polluting smoke emitted from them, along with noise pollution - for the people living in the neighbourhood.

Offenders

AbdulRahman said the DM had issued warnings that multiple families staying in one residential unit after illegally making alterations inside the building, would not be allowed.

"It is against the rules and regulations regarding building safety as well as the social and urban planning norms. The warning was part of a campaign, launched in the year 2005, against bachelors living in family residential areas," he noted.

"Accordingly, the municipality had notified the building owners as well real estate agencies not to rent out villas to bachelors and to allow only one family to live in single residential units," he added.

AbdulRahman said that the DM also had informed them that all services would be disconnected and the future transactions with them would be stopped. "The service amenities like water, electricity and sewage are provided to residential units, according to the building plans. When the residential unit is used by more families against the plan, it becomes difficult to manage resulting in the accumulation of waste, affecting public safety and environment," he explained.

He pointed out that notices were issued to each villa after conducting inspections and a convenient time period for vacating the villas was provided, after which Dewa warned it would cut the electricity and water connections.

Flat sharing

"Meanwhile, there is no such campaign targeting flats being shared by multi-families," clarified AbdulRahman.

"However, the DM will take necessary actions, in the event of complaints about huge number of families living within a small area of a single flat which creates social problem for neighbours," he warned.

"The municipality has outlined regulations and measures to adhere to environment and public safety measures in flats. No partitions are allowed without prior permission from the municipality," AbdulRahman said.