A labourer cooks fish for lunch on the roof of his villa, from which Sharjah Municipality has evicted him and his fellow workers, giving them 24 hours to find a new place to live.
A labourer cooks fish for lunch on the roof of his villa, from which Sharjah Municipality has evicted him and his fellow workers, giving them 24 hours to find a new place to live.
A labourer cooks fish for lunch on the roof of his villa, from which Sharjah Municipality has evicted him and his fellow workers, giving them 24 hours to find a new place to live.
Bachelors pack their bags and leave neighbourhoods
Single male workers, mostly from South Asia, were told to leave the Halwan area in Sharjah after a ruling the neighbhourhood was only for Emirati families.
SHARJAH // Abdul Karam and his four housemates yesterday reluctantly packed their belongings on to the back of a pickup truck after being told to leave the neighbourhood they call home.
Mr Karam, 23, a Bangladeshi tailor, left his villa in Halwan after Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, Ruler of Sharjah, issued a decree to evict all bachelors from residential areas established for Emiratis.
Mattresses and home appliances were piled into pickups and lorries as the men, mostly from South Asia, left the neighbourhood for good.
Dr Sheikh Sultan visited the area to ensure his eviction orders were being carried out. Work to demolish the most dilapidated villas is expected to be carried out soon.
Mr Karam and his housemates are moving to Industrial Area 6 and new accommodation rented for them by his Emirati boss.
"The boss is paying the rent but I will now have to incur transport costs from my pocket to come to work," he said.
Mr Karam said it would cost him about Dh20 for a round trip every day, accounting for more than half of his Dh1,000 monthly salary.
The move to evict bachelors from Halwan was prompted by complaints by Emirati families who said their privacy was being compromised.
An appeal to was made to Dr Sheikh Sultan while he was speaking on Sharjah Radio this week.
Mr Karam is one of the lucky ones who have found a place to live on such short notice. Ihsan Haq, another Bangladeshi national, is still looking for accommodation.
"I did not even think that this would happen to me when the month started," Mr Haq said. "We just woke up one day and were told they don't want us here and there is one day to find another place."
Inspectors attached notices on the front door of each villa telling the occupants to report to the municipality or have utilities disconnected in 24 hours.
Salah bin Butti, the director general of the Sharjah department of planning and survey, said Dr Sheikh Sultan had ordered a green belt be built to separate commercial zones from residential areas.
The municipality must also plant trees in front of homes owned by Emiratis to improve their privacy.
Sultan Al Mualla, the director general of the municipality, said all tenancy contracts in the area would be examined to ensure the villas were only used as family homes.
Mr Al Mualla urged residents to contact the municipality if they saw bachelors living in the neighbourhood.
"Our campaign in the area started on Wednesday with eight inspectors who visited a total of 140 homes," said Najji Nasser, the director of housing inspections at the municipality.
"Among these only 50 were found to be occupied by families. All the other 90 homes were occupied by bachelors.
"The campaign will continue all weekend to ensure the area is free of bachelors."
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
8 UAE companies helping families reduce their carbon footprint
Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
From brushes made of plant fibres to eco-friendly storage solutions, this company has planet-friendly alternatives to almost everything we need, including tin foil and toothbrushes.
One Dubai boutique, Re:told, is taking second-hand garments and selling them on at a fraction of the price, helping to cut back on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown into landfills each year.
Offering filtered, still and sparkling water on tap, Bubble Bro is attempting to ensure we don’t produce plastic or glass waste. Founded in 2017 by Adel Abu-Aysha, the company is on track to exceeding its target of saving one million bottles by the end of the year.
This company offers refillable, eco-friendly home cleaning and hygiene products that are all biodegradable, free of chemicals and certifiably not tested on animals.
This bricks-and-mortar shop and e-store, founded by a Dubai mum-of-four, is the place to go for all manner of family products – from reusable cloth diapers to organic skincare and sustainable toys.
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
