Desalination is exacerbating our water woes

Readers discuss harassment, car costs and more

Water scarcity is the Arab world's most pressing concern, according to regional experts. Lee Hoagland / The National

Your article Arab world's water scarcity alarms experts as region's population soars (November 8) was shocking to read. Even experts on water scarcity in the Arab world have come forward and expressed alarm at the rate at which water supplies are being exhausted as the region's population booms. Indeed, scientists at the World Science Forum in Jordan gave a bleak overview on the sheer speed of clean water depletion. In the UAE, 51 per cent of water supplies come from groundwater, a resource that is expected to be depleted within decades. As an environmental specialist, I urge the production of fresh water through mechanisms other than desalination and the cultivation of oases with the help of countries that have done this before.

Victor Rodin, Ukraine

The #MeToo campaign isn't exclusively about women

I refer to your article How about we stop making #MeToo about men? (November 8). ​While I applaud the important public awareness and dialogue that has been evoked about sexual trauma, I respectfully disagree with Shelina Janmohamed's assertion that the #MeToo campaign is exclusively about women. While ​we women most certainly constitute the majority of those targeted by unwanted and inappropriate objectification, sexual predators are opportunistic (rather than selective) about their targets. Although most predators are men, they can also be victims of other forms of abuse​.

​When actress Emma Watson launched the UN gender equality campaign HeForShe, she said: 'The more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realised that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.' #MeToo is about people who are the ​targets and victims of unwanted sexualisation. It is meant to unite us against this inappropriate and traumatic behaviour, not divide us in identity politics.

Name withheld by request

Car of your dreams? Not when it breaks down

I refer to your article Top five affordable dream cars in the UAE ... if you buy secondhand (November 10). These cars may be affordable to buy but they are not easy to maintain and service, especially since most of their spare parts are imported.

Aouse Al Anee, Dubai