Start-ups need more support

A reader calls for more support for start-ups. Other topics: fire safety, medical treatment, dowry

A reader calls for more support for start-up ventures. Anna Nielsen for The National

I refer to the news report New UAE businesses held back by need to rent office space (January 26).

Given that postal addresses in the country are all post box numbers, there is no real need to have dedicated office premises for many types of businesses. Web and graphic designers, consultants and writers are some of the examples.

So long as the businesses are not in conflict with the residential nature of the area, they can be operated from private homes. Start-ups the world over easily and cost-effectively convert spare rooms to home offices until turnover and staff levels grow to justify the overhead of business premises.

Alternatively, look at developing the incubator model and affordable rents to attract investment and new business growth.

SMEs are the lifeblood of a growing economy.

Sheena Thomson, Dubai

Treatment timing is not so important

In reference to your report Abu Dhabi hospitals hit their waiting time target (January 27), I would hope that care is based on quality and triage requirements, rather than treatment and discharge timing.

Tracy Wilson, Abu Dhabi

Mockery could help curb dowry

For decades, various efforts to abolish dowry have proven futile (Mockery might correct some social ills in India, January 27). So why not try this method? It's a blot on the face of India, which claims itself to be modern and progressive.

K Ragavan, India

How to solve littering problem

There are ways to stop littering (Let’s change the culture of littering, January 25). The first step is anti-littering education. It ought to begin with small children at school and continue through high school.

The second step is to increase the number of rubbish bins and the frequency of emptying them.

The leaders of the UAE did not provide abundant opportunity to people to turn this country into a rubbish dump.

Everyone needs to show the proper level of respect and those that don’t should expect to be punished.

Owen Neale, Iraq

If all street cleaners and office cleaners are sent on vacation for a month, people would soon get fed up with the mess and start clearing it up. Change can only happen if these services are suspended for a while and people can see how much waste they are producing. Maybe it will encourage recycling and help society to be more responsible for their surroundings.

Name withheld by request

The municipality workers should only empty rubbish bins once a week. Let people see what the place would look like if there weren’t people picking up after them.

Katie Marie, Abu Dhabi

Make fire-safety rules stringent

Thank you for the informative and well-researched articles on cladding used in high-rises in Dubai.

They are indeed eye-openers, which I hope will help the community to better understand the related facts and make better and safer decisions in their residences.

In addition to the survey (and possibly fire-safety rating) of buildings that the authorities are undertaking, it is important to impose and enforce more stringent fire-safety regulations, apart from improving the quality of claddings.

These would be based on global best practices and would address issues relating to fire safety installations and practices inside residences, common areas and the many restaurants that deal with many types of equipment on their premises – grills, stoves and ovens.

There don’t seem to be clear enforceable regulations on these. Home owner associations and property management companies could be jointly held accountable for implementing, checking and sustaining these strict fire and fumes regulations by submitting periodic reports to the authorities, as well as conducting periodic compliance checks.

Name withheld by request