Tough new laws urged to assist UAE firefighters



ABU DHABI // Poor fire-regulation and building laws are thwarting the efforts of civil-defence teams to respond more quickly to emergencies.

The acting commander of Civil Defence has called for improved building standards, better infrastructure and tougher laws to boost safety and improve emergency preparedness.

Maj Gen Rashed Al Matroushi said all buildings should be equipped with an information point, where emergency officials could swiftly check safety standards and the location of alarms.

“The laws are poor and standards are not up to the mark,” he told a crisis management conference in the capital.

“There should be building standards where if an engineer wants to check the standards for a tower, building or a hotel there will be one point.

“The Government asked us to improve response times. We studied the laws about building and fire safety, which need to be further upgraded.

“I believe in the coming five years our response times will be reduced and services for the country will be available round the clock.”

Gen Al Matroushi said all private and Government companies and entities were required to have 10 per cent of their staff trained in how to prepare for and respond to an emergency.

The plan is to increase this figure to 30 per cent in the next five years, but at the moment some companies do not even comply with the 10-per-cent requirement, Gen Al Matroushi said.

About 6,000 staff work for Civil Defence in the UAE, serving a population of more than seven million, of about 210 nationalities. This brought about its own challenges and the language barrier between emergency crews and people was sometimes a problem, Gen Al Matroushi said.

The conference also heard from the Minister of Energy, Suhail Al Mazrouei, who said the media and the Government could work together to tackle any emergency situation.

The UAE has many vital energy infrastructure sites in oil, gas and now nuclear energy.

Mr Al Mazrouei said the media had a role to report disasters, such as the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan, and the reporting of measures taken to improve safety was very important.

“Every crisis is different from country to country. Then preventive measures are followed to avoid an occurrence. For example, the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan in 2011,” he said.

The minister said the UAE’s nuclear plants would start operating by 2017 and safety was paramount.

“It’s very important to put proper emphasis on the challenges relating to it, like this conference, and we hope to reach the best solutions,” he said.

The conference was also addressed by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Youth, Culture and Community Development, who emphasised that because society was so diverse, coordination between emergency services was crucial.

“Disasters and emergency crises in this modern period are wide and varied due to a rapidly expanding and diverse society,” he said.

“Earthquakes, floods, tropical cyclones, climatic changes, war, terrorist attacks and criminal activities are prevalent today. Therefore, the requirements to address them are also challenging.”

Sheikh Nahyan stressed the importance of building cooperation among all ministries and all sectors to provide awareness and training, as well as research on how to tackle emergencies.

“The responsibility lies on all in society – individuals, regional, public and private sectors – to hold dialogues in the society to build a real partnership.”

anwar@thenational.ae

The specs

Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV

Power: 360bhp

Torque: 500Nm

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Price: from Dh282,870

On sale: now

Match info

Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335

Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs

BLACKBERRY

Director: Matt Johnson

Stars: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson

Rating: 4/5

Financial considerations before buying a property

Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.

“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says. 

Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.

Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier. 

MATCH INFO

Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')

Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90+4')

Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

if you go

The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.

The trip 

Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.

Top tips

Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”

US federal gun reform since Sandy Hook

- April 17, 2013: A bipartisan-drafted bill to expand background checks and ban assault weapons fails in the Senate.

- July 2015: Bill to require background checks for all gun sales is introduced in House of Representatives. It is not brought to a vote.

- June 12, 2016: Orlando shooting. Barack Obama calls on Congress to renew law prohibiting sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

- October 1, 2017: Las Vegas shooting. US lawmakers call for banning bump-fire stocks, and some renew call for assault weapons ban.

- February 14, 2018: Seventeen pupils are killed and 17 are wounded during a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

- December 18, 2018: Donald Trump announces a ban on bump-fire stocks.

- August 2019: US House passes law expanding background checks. It is not brought to a vote in the Senate.

- April 11, 2022: Joe Biden announces measures to crack down on hard-to-trace 'ghost guns'.

- May 24, 2022: Nineteen children and two teachers are killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

- June 25, 2022: Joe Biden signs into law the first federal gun-control bill in decades.

The Specs

Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)

Torque: 730Nm

Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS) 

What is a robo-adviser?

Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.

These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.

Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.

Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.

SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now

PROFILE OF STARZPLAY

Date started: 2014

Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand

Number of employees: 125

Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners


The UAE Today

The latest news and analysis from the Emirates

      By signing up, I agree to The National's privacy policy
      The UAE Today