SHARJAH // Reducing traffic jams and making improvements to roads were the main issues that citizens of Sharjah hoped the Federal National Council candidates would act upon should they be elected.
Alia Al Maazmi, an 18-year-old student, said she had to change the time of her classes to avoid being stuck in traffic.
“Since I started driving, the traffic congestion in the emirate has been horrible, and I had to change the schedule of my classes from early morning to noon and afternoon to avoid getting stuck for hours,” she said.
“I always see improvements on Dubai’s streets and roads, and I want to see that in my emirate.”
› Ahead of the FNC election day on October 3, The National's reporters are travelling across the seven emirates to speak to Emiratis and find out the issues that affect them – and what they expect from members of a new Federal National Council. Read them here.
Ms Al Maazmi also said she would like the new FNC members to find a solution for the electricity failures that continue to occur.
“The electricity is cut off twice a month at my house, and at university,” she said.
“It happened in the summer semester, when the electricity was cut off at the university during final exams, which led the university to postpone the exams.
“I ask the new FNC members to find a solution for this problem because it is terrible, especially in summer.”
Abdelrahman Albuqaish, an international relations student, said that the repair of roads and streets in Sharjah needed to happen immediately, and that traffic issues could be resolved by building more bridges.
“The roads and streets in the emirate must be repaired in a short time, not a long period,” the 20-year-old said.
“In addition, the best solution, in my opinion, is to build bridges instead of roundabouts and put digital traffic signals, because these two ways will reduce traffic in the emirate.”
Khalid Kudoom, 26, also had traffic on his mind. “The jams are the most terrible thing in the emirate and it’s because of the roundabouts. By removing these roundabouts, the congestion will decrease,” he said.
His friend Amr Al Suraim said the FNC candidates must put forward proposals for modifying the streets in his residential area.
“The development of streets in the residential areas must be done without delay, because in Al Nouf and Al Juraina areas the streets are sandy, not asphalt,” the 26-year-old said.
Because Sharjah has only three malls, Mr Al Suraim also said there was a need for more to be built, especially shopping areas that offered international brands.
“Opening new malls in the emirate is the thing that we need here, because it will be easier for us to get whatever we want, instead of going to Dubai, which has everything,” he said.
roueiti@thenational.ae
