Petrol price rise has a cumulative effect on costs

Readers respond to an opinion piece about petrol price rises. Other topics: Emiratis in the private sector, London supercars and 'abandoned' cars.

Readers say the petrol price increase should not be seen in isolation. Mona Al Marzooqi/ The National

With regard to Kevin Hackett's opinion piece, The air bag: Time to stop gassing about petrol price rise (August 7), this issue is not just about the additional fuel costs personally – it's the knock-on effect that will increase the price of everything.

The cost of living here is already high and rising. This will compound it. It will have a significant impact on the economy and therefore on everyone – even those without a car, even if they have a small car.

That’s the real reason for the concern, a point which I think he missed.

Name withheld by request

The comparison to fuel in the UK cannot be sustained because over there the average citizen does not make – or spend – the way they do in Dubai.

Just take the issue of housing. Outside of London, it is nowhere as high as even on the edge of Dubai, and in the UK pretty much everywhere has decent transport options that do not exist in UAE – the most obvious example of which is rail.

Valeriu Stanciu-Crainic, Abu Dhabi

Emirati or not, you need experience

I have to disagree with Taryam Al Subaihi's opinion piece, (Why we have to smash a few workforce stereotype, August 5) that there are now plenty of Emiratis with the skills to thrive in the private sector and the problem instead is the attitude of senior management.

It depends on the company and culture. Company cultures in the private sector are different. You will not get a salary of Dh30,000 or more straight out of university because even if you were a good student, it doesn't necessarily mean you will be good at the job you trained for because there is a big difference between theory and practice.

Both sides – Emiratis straight out of university and the companies that can hire expatriate workers with many years of on-the-job experience with multinational companies for the same salary – need to adjust and change the private sector culture.

Private companies need to see the value in employing locals and the Emiratis need to understand that it will take years to get up to management level.

This aspect is why some Emiratis get discouraged, so they settle for a government job with more security, more pay and fewer hours.

John Paravalos, Dubai

From my own personal experience, the private sector is not a place that welcomes talented Emiratis. It's not a place for you to grow and I regretted working in that sector.

Maryam Al Hersi, Dubai

Obviously whether an Emirati employee thrives or struggles is very dependent on the company.

I've found the private sector to be very good at nurturing and mentoring talent.

Hassan AlSayegh, Dubai

It’s about respect, not supercars

With regard to Peter Hellyer's column (Take your car to London, but show some sense, too, August 4), it's not the cars causing the problem – it's the impolite attitude of the drivers.

Too many of the young men driving them don't say "please" or "thank you" or they rev their engines loudly in the middle of the night, without caring whether people are sleeping.

The cars are lovely but that's not the issue at all.

Hafsah Terywall, UK

I would like to thank Peter Hellyer but I would have to say that the Brits are not in a good position to show by example, whether abroad or at home.

Plenty of these youths might lack good manners but at least they are not attacking anyone like drunken yobs.

I also fail to understand the frequent references to so-called civilised society. Who is to say who is civilised in this multicultural world of ours?

It's a case of different strokes for different folks. As much as others need to be tolerant of others' ways, they need to respect the differences too.

Aziza Al Busaidy, Dubai

Most visitors from the Gulf are extremely well behaved and do respect the laws in the UK while they're there.

It's just a few – like some of the young guys mentioned in this article – who need a reminder from time to time about manners.

Ali Cuuex, Dubai

Mawaqif key to ‘abandoned’ cars

Your editorial raises the difficulties of differentiating between abandoned cars and those whose owners have gone on holiday (An SMS could avert the summertime blues, August 6).

What about the Mawaqif parking inspectors? They will see cars like this when on duty.

Aiysha Hurley, Abu Dhabi