In the words of Sheikh Saif bin Zayed this week, the rapid response of the emergency services to the fire that broke out at the Address Downtown Dubai hotel on New Year’s Eve was a sign of the UAE’s ability to deal with such crises.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior pointed that a well-prepared government is one that is able to manage future outcomes.
Shaping what Sheikh Saif called an “integrated doctrine” went back to 2003, he said: “When we had a fire that was mismanaged. Response should take place in the past, not in the present.” He was referring to the 2003 blaze which destroyed much of Abu Dhabi’s main souq.
The blaze, in February of that year, gutted about 80 shops and businesses and effectively doomed the market. It was demolished two years later.
In the wake of the fire, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, issued directives that would ensure the preparedness for similar incidents in an integrated manner.
As Sheikh Saif noted in his speech: “Such an approach is based on the principle, which says that responding to crises only when they occur means inevitable failure.”
As for the Abu Dhabi souq; construction of its replacements – the Souk and the World Trade Center – began in 2007. The Souk opened in 2011 and the World Trade Center mall in 2013, ensuring the continuity of the area as a centre of trade for at least a century.
* James Langton
