ABU DHABI // What started as a school project turned into a realisation that the rapidly developing Reem Island has too few rubbish receptacles.
Yvette Peter created the clean-up project as part of her son’s community-engagement curriculum.
With her husband, Lee McLaren, they decided to make an event out of it, posting it to Facebook and targeting the waterfront as the clean-up location.
“The rocks along the way are stuffed with garbage, so we said let’s do a clean-up,” Ms Peter said. “We got a lot of response and collected 17 full trash bags of garbage, but still there’s more to clean up.”
Before they started the event, Tadweer Waste Management was told that there would be a need for a giant rubbish pick-up.
“You know why we were having trouble, we collected the bags and we notified waste management but they’re still out there,” she said. “I don’t know how to get them taken out of there.”
Ms Peter was concerned that the longer the bags remained, the more likely their contents would spill back on the beach.
“This is done to preserve the environment,” she said. “We don’t want all this waste to float into the beautiful sea, and we love it here. We love the ocean, it’s so beautiful, but it’s going to cause a lot of problems if those paper bags go into the ocean.”
Tadweer did not answer calls for comment.
A larger problem, Ms Peter said, was the lack of rubbish bins on the island.
“There are no bins at all, and actually we need to do a little education. If we can get people to be more aware, we still need to make them aware we can’t shove garbage into the rocks,” she said.
Steve Guerra, a school teacher and Reem Island resident, said the problem was ongoing.
“I’ve lived on Reem for quite some time, literally when the island only had a few cars, so I’ve seen the progression of wonderful buildings. Unfortunately, you have the beauty next to the ugly.”
He said that during the clean-up joggers thanked them for their efforts
A big part of the rubbish problem, Mr Guerra added, was a lack of education.
“Part of the problem is just people being lazy, but really there are no receptacles. You’ll see fishermen come eat dinner and they’ll just stuff the trash between the rocks.”
The group has now come together on Facebook and is now looking to set-up regular beach clean-ups in the community.
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
