Free traditional houses must not be rented out

Dr Jawan bin Salim Al Dhahiri, Head of the Municipal Affairs Department in Abu Dhabi, has told Khaleej Times that the Abu Dhabi Municipality has launched an awareness campaign targeting UAE nationals, who have been awarded traditional houses by the government at no cost, to warn them of the hazards of renting out their houses.

The campaign is meant to prompt the UAE nationals to conform to the municipality's order which gave the wrongdoers a grace period till the end of the current academic year to get their houses vacated if they do not want them to be taken back.

Jawan said recently that these traditional houses had been allotted to the UAE nationals with limited income for living in not for renting them out with the aim of raking in money. More than 2,000 UAE nationals, who are eligible for getting such houses, are still in the waiting list.

The campaign would acquaint the landlords and tenants with the order and the current situation.
/Khallej Times/

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Capital population expected to cross 3 million by 2030

By the year 2030, the number of residents staying in the city of Abu Dhabi, and in its expected extension to the new capital district, will cross 3million, Falah Al Ahbabi, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), has said.

The UPC supervises the implementation of all urban improvement projects in the emirate.

As for the water and power requirements to meet this expansion, he said: “The initial stages of the project will not require any new water or power stations but plans are in place to establish them in the later stages and locations are being reserved for purpose.”

When asked if the implementation of the project would be accompanied by a restructuring of the old city of Abu Dhabi, such as building more streets or demolishing old buildings, Al Ahbabi said, “As the new developments are being approved, the policies of the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan will be applied, such as pedestrian-friendly streets.

“There are also plans to reshape the existing city of Abu Dhabi. This will take some time. The objective is minimum disruption of the existing city.” Source

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The capital to get a new address system

The capital is to get a new address system to help everyone from residents to postal workers and emergency services locate streets, offices and houses quickly and logically.

The system, to be designed with the help of a Norwegian company, should replace the traditional Middle Eastern method of identifying locations by their proximity to landmarks or intersections "plus a bit of guesswork and luck" which can make finding an address a frustrating experience.

Juma Mubarak al Junaibi, the director-general of Abu Dhabi Municipality, said the new system being developed should "eliminate misunderstanding'' with respect to addresses and street directions.

''The aim was to give all areas and streets unique names and logical and sequentially structured numbering, Junaibi said in a statement issued in response to a query by The National. WAM

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Dh100 fine imposed for spitting in public places

The local municipalities in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region are now imposing a Dh100 fine on those caught spitting in the streets and public places.

Engineer Omar Al Hashimi, Director of the Department of Municipal Service Affairs, told Khaleej Times that move is aimed at protecting the community from unhygienic practices.

He noted that spitting in the streets and floors of public places in the emirates have become a problem, particularly indulged in by a large number of taxi drivers.

Engineer Al Hashimi pointed out that violators will be required to pay the fines on the spot if caught by the municipal inspectors.

In case, the violator, particularly taxi drivers and other motorists or pedestrians are unable to pay on-the-spot fine, inspectors will seize their driving licence or work permit which will be returned only on payment of fine. Source

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Criteria for loans granted by the Zayed Housing Scheme

The Federal National Council (FNC) yesterday approved the formation of a sub-committee to study and recommend the eligibility criteria for loans granted by the Zayed Housing Scheme.

The committee has been asked to speed up identifying the criteria to address the flaws of the present housing system and help in deciding on the pending applications.

The FNC session was attended by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Public Works, and Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs.

The meeting discussed the report of the Islamic Affairs and Awqaf (Endowments) and the public facilities provided in the Zayed Housing Scheme.

The council members called for fair treatment in considering the applications. They said the lack of clear policy guidelines had resulted in the delay in deciding on the applications, some of which had been pending for more than 25 years.

This, they said, had raised doubts about the success of the scheme in meeting the housing needs of the nationals.

Shaikh Hamdan bin Mubarak said soft loans for building 40,000 houses, which His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had ordered, would be distributed among the citizens.

More than 38,000 applications for this scheme had been received. They would be studied separately in order to pick the eligible candidates. These 40,000 houses were scheduled to be constructed within the next five years, he noted.

The applications would be decided according to the applicants’ present situation, including the urgent nature of their need for houses, he said. Complete impartiality would be followed in the distribution of houses, which would be strictly on the basis of the information mentioned in the applications. The ministry would verify the credibility of the information from the municipalities, he said.

Therefore, the lack of information in some applications and failure of applicants to update the same according to their living conditions would be taken as proof that they were not in dire need of loans, he said.

Shaikh Hamdan called on the media to project a clear and proper picture about the eligibility criteria for entitlement and selection of recipients of housing loans.

Meanwhile, the council members sought the drafting of a recommendation to be put forward to the government on withdrawing the grants for housing from the emirates and local governments which do not pay attention to the issue and, instead, give these grants to other entitled emirates which spare no effort in providing a decent life to their citizens.

This, they said, would achieve the principle of equality and meet the needs of the areas, whose residents had been complaining especially regarding their urgent need for houses. Source

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Christians celebrate new church in Abu Dhabi

More than 2,500 Christians from 21 different denominations celebrated on Friday the construction of the new facility for worshippers.

"This is a historic day as we celebrate 30 years of the Christian community in Abu Dhabi in this facility," said Cameron Arensen, pastor of the English-speaking Evangelical Community Church.
The Evangelical Church of Abu Dhabi is home to 21 different churches that hold services back-to-back from Thursday to Saturday. For more than a decade, 21 different churches and denominations have been meeting in the small facility in the Khubairat area. The churches’ new home now has the capacity to accommodate the growing numbers of its congregations.

"The land was granted to us by the rulers of this country, who have been very generous. The old facility was getting way too small for us and this is a very exciting new phase for us as a church," the pastor said.

The new church is built adjacent to the old facility and more expansion is planned. " The second phase will be to build another chapel, offices and classrooms,” said the pastor.

Pastor Stuart Briscoe from the UK delivered a message on unity and worship to the congregation.

The Evangelical Church goes back to the 1970's as an extension of the Oasis Hospital in Al Ain and grew through the years as different denominations came to the UAE.

"The significance of all these different churches meeting in one facility is to give a visible demonstration of our unity as a Christian community despite the many nationalities and cultures," Arensen added.

When John Kochummen, a member of the church, came from India 10 years ago to work in Abu Dhabi, the church was not only a place for him to worship, but also to establish a social network .

"It has been amazing to see new nationalities from around the world coming here every week,” he said. “The government has been extremely good to allow different faiths to live and work together," Kochummen said. Source

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