I agree with the points made in your editorial, Tower blaze is a call to look at fire safety (October 4).
It all starts with building quality and maintenance. However, I believe that the behaviour of tenants is also important.
It is common to see too many electrical plugs in one wall socket, cigarettes being casually discarded, and the use of barbecues and gas bottles indoors.
Casper Morgenstern, Dubai
In every building I have lived in across this region, the fire equipment has been woeful.
We once had fire training at work and we were told to go home to locate the extinguishers and fire blanket.
Needless to say, they were not there.
Cath Black, Abu Dhabi
The fire regulations are not enforced. The fire alarm in my apartment building is covered by duct tape, and the fire exits are littered with rubbish. I have informed the building managers, but they do not care.
Name withheld by request
It was reported that residents involved in the recent Sharjah fire used the lifts instead of walking down the fire-escape stairs.
Why were the lifts even working? They should have been automatically disabled when the fire alarm was activated.
If alarms are covered up or systems are not checked regularly, then the building maintenance company should be heavily fined.
Lisa Justice, Dubai
Appreciation of coffee article
It was a pleasure to read Rym Ghazal's article, No matter how you like it, coffee has a hold over us (October 1).
Thank you for recognising Ethiopia as the origin of coffee. Today, Ethiopia is the fifth largest coffee-producing country in the world, the first in Africa and among the top 10 coffee-exporting countries.
Over 1.4 million small farmers are dependent on coffee for their livelihoods, while over 16 million Ethiopians indirectly earn their income from coffee.
We would like to share our joy with coffee lovers all over the world, and we express our commitment to continue to cherish the best organic coffee with different aromas and flavours.
We look forward to celebrating the next Coffee Day with all coffee lovers and companies in the UAE.
Girma Rissa, second secretary, Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Abu Dhabi
Universities face a big challenge
Dean Hoke's opinion article, Universities must take charge of their own futures (September 30), showed great insight.
From an American perspective, the focus in universities has been on recruiting and retaining staff, with considerable attention to online learning.
With a focus on “clicks instead of bricks” both in the US and Australia, we are seeing that online learning has become mainstream rather than just an add-on to a university’s offerings.
Regardless of geographic location, students can take courses or obtain degrees from a number of universities worldwide without leaving home.
The effect this access has on smaller colleges and universities is tremendous. They must look at how they will stand out in a crowded market to survive.
M Powell, US
US has controls on e-cigarettes
I would like to clarify some aspects of vaping (More study required on e-cigarettes, September 12).
All vaping bottles that are manufactured in regulated markets are labelled with the concentration of nicotine they contain – for example, 24 mg/ml or 18 mg/ml – so the user can choose which one suits them. There are also bottles with no nicotine at all.
It is true that the US Food and Drug Administration has not yet come to a conclusive decision regarding the long-term effects of vaping.
However, it has at least controlled and is constantly monitoring the manufacturing process.
The US and British markets are full of vaping products. The debate in the US is whether you can vape indoors. In the UK, there are vaping cafes.
I suggest that people who are interested in the subject do more research than just blindly read articles on the internet.
R Tannous, Dubai
