Motorists who spoke to The National support the expansion of a busy Sharjah road, a move aimed at cutting congestion and travel times on the daily journey to and from Dubai.
Sharjah's Roads and Transports Authority opened an extra lane on Al Taawun Road to improve traffic flow for drivers often plagued by delays.
The 1km-lane, which is 3.65 metres wide, turned the route into a four-lane road, increasing its traffic capacity by about 25 per cent, the authority said.
Commuters driving from Dubai into Sharjah during peak hours would often face long queues on the road after crossing Al Nahda bridge.
Traffic from two major motorways – Al Ittihad Road and Mohamed bin Zayed road in Dubai – contributed to a build-up of traffic all the way to the roundabout, near which the enhancement work was carried out.
Hoping for end to traffic 'misery'
One driver said it would often take him 20 minutes to navigate his way out of the area on his way to Dubai.
“There were many improvements last year on Al Nahda bridge by adding a new lane to the bridge to make it three lanes, instead of two, to ease traffic movement,” said Salman Essa, 40, from Syria.
“The new lane added to Al Taawun Road, connecting the bridge to the roundabout, will help improve traffic.
“I use this route every day to reach my apartment in Al Khan area. It takes about 20 minutes to cross the road due to constant traffic jams during peak hours.”
Mr Essa, who works as accountant in Dubai and lives in Sharjah, said he was excited to see the construction of the lane in the past two months.
“I felt it would bring an end to the misery of a long commute between Dubai to Sharjah.”
Motorist urges caution
Othman Younes, 36, a Sudanese resident of Sharjah, said the extra lane would ease congestion but not solve a perennial problem.
“There is an increase in traffic challenges faced by thousands of daily commuters who travel between the two bustling cities,” he said.
He suggested Al Taawun roundabout could be improved to tackle traffic jams.
“The roundabout needs to either have a small bridge or tunnel so motorists will not stop in the roundabout. I hope they will find a solution soon to end our daily traffic problem,” Mr Younes said.
Tackling traffic woes
Lengthy delays on routes between Dubai and Sharjah are a long-standing issue.
The problem has been exacerbated by the booming populations of both emirates.
Dubai's population crossed 3.5 million last year while the results of a recent census in Sharjah revealed it was now home to 1.8 million people – an increase of 400,000 since 2015.
Traditionally cheaper rents in Sharjah have also made it an attractive proposition for those working in Dubai, piling further pressure on road networks between the emirates.
In May, an extra lane was added to a 600-metre stretch at an exit from Al Ittihad Road by Sharjah's Road and Transport Authority, in an effort to boost travel times between the emirate and Dubai.
The widening at Al Khan means there are now two exit lanes to improve traffic flow. It was previously only one lane and prone to rush-hour congestion.
Meanwhile, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority resumed its ferry service to Sharjah this month.
The marine route was first opened in July 2019, with the aim of serving up to 1.3 million passengers a year.
The service supported efforts to ease heavy congestion on roads between the two emirates.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
