FNC members will discuss health and safety standards

Health and safety standards in the country will be debated at the Federal National Council on Tuesday in the presence of Dr Rashid bin Fahad, chairman of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and MEtrology and Minister of Environment.

ABU DHABI // Health and safety standards in the country will be debated at the Federal National Council on Tuesday.

A report analysing the work of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology will be read out in the presence of Dr Rashid bin Fahad, chairman of the authority and the Minister of Environment and Water.

FNC members will then take turns querying the minister over the authority’s 2011-2013 strategy, how it followed state laws and its role in protecting consumers and supporting the UAE economy.

Members will also ask the minster about the role of the ministry in monitoring genetically modified food in the local market and its role in supporting Emiratis working in the fields of fishing and agriculture.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and chairman of the National Council for Tourism and Antiquities, and Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs, will also be questioned during the session.

Mosabeh Al Kitbi (Sharjah) said he plans to question Sheikh Nahyan about the lack of Emiratis in the tourism sector and what the council was doing about it.

“The UAE today is one of the countries where instead of people leaving it for tourism, people come to it – it is a great sector for investment,” Mr Al Kitbi said.

He said expatriates dominated the tourism sector, where Emiratis now ought to be filling in, particularly in administrative and managerial jobs.

“We continue to focus on Emiratisation, we want to know what the tourism council has done in this regard,” he said. “Tour guides is one job that should be headed by an Emirati, they should show tourists the country.”

Dr Sheikha Al Erri (UAQ) said she plans to share her frustration over a decades-old Etisalat building in Umm Al Quwain, demanding a new building for the emirate.

“The building we have was built in the 70s, and it is the only building that caters to Etisalat customers in the whole emirate and neighbouring cities,” she said. “Why doesn’t Umm Al Quwain have a new Etisalat building, like other emirates?”

She said when she goes to pay her bills at the building, she is always caught in long queues in the cramped building where employees are agitated because of the lack of space around them.

“The building does not keep social dynamics into account, there is no place for women,” she said.