The solid waste landfill site located in the Sajaa industrial area of Sharjah where the Emirate hopes to reduce it by 30 per cent within a year.
The solid waste landfill site located in the Sajaa industrial area of Sharjah where the Emirate hopes to reduce it by 30 per cent within a year.

Community patrols step up checks on dumping



Citizen patrols are being stepped up in Dubai in an attempt to stamp out the illegal dumping of rubbish, while a new waste management programme in Sharjah aims to reduce the amount going to landfill by 30 per cent within a year, as the neighbouring emirates work to clean up the environment. The two initiatives were outlined at the Middle East Waste Summit 2009, a three-day event at the Dubai Airport Expo that was launched yesterday and focuses on waste management and recycling solutions. A senior Dubai Municipality official said the community patrolling programme would be made more active to help waste management and control illegal sewage dumping. A team of around 500 responsible citizens had already been enlisted as volunteers to keep a watch for illegal dumping or littering. Hassan Mohammed Makki, director of the municipality's waste management department, said the volunteers had been educated on identifying violations and local municipality orders. Their monitoring activities would be spread across the emirate. Violations of newly launched initiatives such as a ban on spitting betel leaves and littering streets would also be monitored by the volunteers, he said. "We are constantly enhancing and upgrading activities of this group. Apart from violations by companies they now also report to us on individual violations such as littering and spitting of betel leaves." While the volunteers do not issue fines, they immediately report cases where companies are illegally dumping waste and the municipality then takes action. Fines range from Dh300 (US$82) up to Dh3,000 depending on the offence and the number of times it is committed. Hussein Nasser Lootah, the director general of Dubai Municipality, delivering the keynote address at the summit, said waste management was a top priority for Dubai. "In the year 2000, there were 3,000 tonnes a day arriving to the waste treatment plant in Dubai. By the end of 2008 this increased to 11,000 tonnes a day with an increase rate of more than 20 per cent a year. At the same time, construction waste in Dubai increased by almost 30 per cent a year, which is around 60,000 tonnes a day." Agricultural and medical waste showed similar increases. Meanwhile, a public-private partnership between the environmental company Bee'ah and Sharjah Municipality will bring waste management in the emirate in line with international best practices, according to authorities. Sharjah landfill sites currently take 2,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily. James Hartnell, marketing manager at Bee'ah, said that by the end of summer this year a reclamation facility would come online, separating out different materials. "Instead of household and office waste going to landfill, it will go to a materials reclamation facility. Through hand-sorting, magnetism and washing, we can get about 30 per cent of the recyclable waste out," he said. "Western countries with more established recycling facilities can get 60 or 70 per cent out. The issue here is that because it isn't separated at the source, there are degrees of contamination." At the summit in Dubai, Bee'ah launched its latest initiative, Tandeef, which means clean. A street beautification project, Tandeef will see a new fleet of collection vehicles, collection routes monitored by GPS and outdoor vacuum cleaners will collect litter from the streets. Under the Tandeef programme, all waste bins in the emirate will be monitored electronically to let collectors know which have been emptied and which have not. A new fleet of collection vehicles will be imported from Canada and run according to a GPS system so the municipality and drivers can co-ordinate on routes. The design of the new system comes after an analysis of how to maximise the efficiency of waste collection. This initiative will at first serve the Khaled Lagoon and Buhairah Corniche areas before eventually moving across the city. Salim al Owais, acting chairman of Bee'ah's board of directors, said the Tandeef programme would have "immediate benefits" on the cleanliness of the streets of Sharjah. jhume@thenational.ae pmenon@thenational.ae

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

MATCH INFO

Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')

Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')

65
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EScott%20Beck%2C%20Bryan%20Woods%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdam%20Driver%2C%20Ariana%20Greenblatt%2C%20Chloe%20Coleman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg

Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

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Starfield
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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Second Test, Day 2:

South Africa 335 & 75/1 (22.0 ov)
England 205
South Africa lead by 205 runs with 9 wickets remaining

RESULTS

Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)

Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)

Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)

Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)

Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)

Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)

Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)

Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)

Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)

Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)

Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

If you go

The flights

There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.

The trip

Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.

The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.