National Paints roundabout to be closed

Sharjah motorists have to gear themselves to face the partial closure of the National Paints roundabout in June.

The announcement was made after Sharjah Police and the Ministry of Public Works met to discuss the second phase of the Emirates Road Development Project, which will be carried out at National Paints roundabout on June 22.

An official at Sharjah Police said the roundabout, which connects with Industrial Area 5, will be closed and traffic will be diverted to alternative routes in order to maintain the smooth flow of traffic on the roads without causing any congestion.

"The road works will be carried out as per schedule at the roundabout," the police official said.

However, the officer did not give a date for the completion of the project.

The road work project also includes developing and expanding National Paints bridge, as well as developing the five main intersections in the area, including Sharjah Ring Road, National Paints, King Abdul Aziz Intersection, University City and Al Dhaid intersection.

"The expansion project will upgrade Emirates Road to five lanes in both directions and will have a service road 12-km long.

“The project also includes part of Dubai as the two emirates will share the same sewerage network along the road," said the police official.

He added that the Emirates Road Development Project is one of the most strategic projects conducted so far that aims to ensure a smooth traffic flow for motorists travelling to and from the northern emirates.

Good news for Sharjah Airport users - systems to get faster

Sharjah Airport Authority and the Department of Civil Aviation in Sharjah held discussions on Sunday with officials from companies working in the airport, including Air Arabia, security teams and the Airport Customs Center over the measures that would enable travelers finalise procedures of arrival and departure easily and conveniently in light of the continuous increase in the number of travelers in the airport.

The meeting discussed several important topics that all aim to guarantee traveler comfort, where several ideas were discussed that deal with facilitating procedures in the departure area to prevent any congestion, parking spaces for arrivals and departures, guiding and directing passengers to enable them to complete procedures in the shortest time possible, and placing workers at x-ray search stations, in addition to a study on how to speed up procedures at the counters, passport checkpoints, visa reception, eye-scan, and any other places that would contribute to speeding up procedures.

Dr. Al Hajiri emphasised the importance of these coordination meetings to communicate with government agencies and the private sector in order to review procedures and discuss issues related to travelers. These issues include parking spots and boarding the airplane, so that all procedures will be simple and conducive to preserving the good reputation the Sharjah International Airport has earned over the past years that has made it a leader in the region.

Dr. Hajiri noted that the airport's administration is keen to create an appropriate travel environment and is working to overcome difficulties faced by travelers, particularly given the continuous increase in number of travelers seen by the airport.

He underlined the importance of holding periodic reviews for different procedures and procedures that would guarantee travelers' complete comfort while traveling.

He also highlighted the most important issues that travelers currently face in the Sharjah International Airport. He said that last spring vacation was used as a performance evaluation for all administrations working in the airport.

He also spoke about the large shortage of employees in all working agencies as well as the need to monitor alternating officials round the clock.

Ali Salem Al Midfa explained that Sharjah Airport Authority and the Department of Civil Aviation in Sharjah are both keen to open channels of communication with all agencies that use and work in the airport whether they are governmental or private.

Al Midfa noted the importance of transparent communication with the media through a highly experienced media committee.

Sheikh Khalid Bin Esasm Al Qassimi emphasised the Department of Civil Aviation's keenness to address the needs and requirements of airport users and travelers and to offer a suitable environment to them as well as to protect their safety and security. He pointed out the necessity of activating the Streamlining Committees that is generally concerned with services to raise the level of service.

Adel Ali of Air Arabia, emphasised that the company is keen to cooperate with all parties and agencies that work in the airport with the goal of ensuring easy procedures, all in the service of Air Arabia travelers.

"There is no doubt that ensuring complete comfort to all passengers comes at the top of the company's priorities," he said.

He noted that Air Arabia plays an active role in training its employees to deal with passengers and to quickly complete procedures, especially at the counters, indicating that the employees are trained to show cooperation and coordination and extend support to all agencies that work in the airport.
 

Over 8 million traffic offences in UAE

The UAE appears to be maintaining its position as having one of the worst traffic records in the world, with more than eight million offences committed by motorists in just one year, official data showed on Monday.

The figure means that there was an average one offence for every resident and over 11 offences for every driver in the second largest Arab economy.

The figures by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED) showed there were nearly 1.3 million simple traffic mishaps which inflicted around Dh2.1 billion in road and economic losses.

Last year’s traffic offences of 8.04 million were nearly 17 per cent above those recorded in 2010 despite a series of deterrent measures taken by traffic police in all emirates to curb offences and consequently accidents.

Abu Dhabi accounted for nearly half the total traffic offences last year, with around 3.96 million, according to the report, presented by DED expert Ibrahim Al Abed to a recent traffic conference in Abu Dhabi.

The paper showed accidents killed 2,512 people during 2009-2011 and Abu Dhabi again was the main victim, with 1,122 deaths.

It showed there were 6,700 serious accidents in 2011, resulting in the death of 720 people and injury of 78,080. Abu Dhabi alone recorded 2,280 accidents that caused the death of 344 people and injured 3,547.

“There should be more stringent penalties to stop this bloodshed on the roads,” the paper said. “UAE traffic police should adopt an incremental fine system and increase licensing fees and insurance premiums on motorists who cause repeated accidents within one year.”

The UAE and other Gulf states have been locked in a massive drive to reduce accidents following a surge in road deaths. Most of them have introduced stiffer penalties, increased road patrols and installed advanced speed cameras.

According to a Saudi study, Gulf countries are ahead of the United States in deaths caused by road accidents.

An average one person in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is killed in road mishaps every hour and lack of awareness about road discipline is the main reason for these disasters, said the study, authored by Abdul Jalil Al Saif, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura council (appointed parliament).

In 2008, car crashes killed 9,049 people in the GCC, nearly 28 per cent of the road deaths of about 32,000 in the Arab world and around 0.7 per cent of the world’s total road casualties of nearly 1.2 million, Al Saif said.

In the GCC, the richest group in the Arab region, an average 25 people were killed in road accidents every day in 2008, or one casualty every one hour.

“If we compare the number of casualties in road accidents in the GCC and the United States, we find that the GCC countries are ahead of the US despite the much higher number of cars operating in the US,” he said.

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