ABU DHABI // School minibuses are to be phased out in Abu Dhabi.
No minibus or microbus can be registered as a school transport vehicle after this school term.
Minibuses “lack safety and security standards and violate school transport requirements and regulations”, the School Transport Committee Abu Dhabi said.
It called on schools to adhere to transport requirements and regulations, and to refrain from using minibuses “for the students’ safety.”
“The committee also urges the concerned parties to take all the necessary measures against violators of these instructions.”
It did not say if transport providers would be given time to phase the vehicles out.
Minibus use for schools was banned in Dubai this year, and transport providers were given 18 months to phase them out.
“Minibuses are being banned for many reasons,” said Khaled Al Mansouri, acting chief executive of the Emirates Driving Company, which is part of the school transport committee. “A number of people have died in accidents involving minibuses.”
The vehicles’ relatively high centre of gravity meant it was easy for drivers to lose control, and the limited space inside the vehicle was also a safety hazard, he said. “If an accident occurs, there is not a lot of space for passengers to move out. This applies to 15-seater buses as well as nine-seater buses.
“The bus can easily overturn on a curve when speeding. The design of the seats puts passengers too close for comfort and there are no emergency exits as in regular buses.”
Emirates Transport, which provides more than 4,000 buses for public schools, is also a member of the committee.
“Emirates Transport is fully committed to implementing all laws and regulations related to school transport and fully supports all measures that are taken with the view of improving school transport safety,” said Abdullah Al Ghafli, executive director of the school transport section.
The other committee members are the Department of Transport, Ministry of Interior, Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi Education Council, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Al Ain Municipality.
Thomas Edelmann, founder of Road Safety UAE, welcomed the ban.
“We must secure the utmost safety for our kids being transported to and from school,” he said. “The current upgrade away from minibuses is seen to improve the ‘proper vehicles’ criteria of school bus safety.
“However, to ensure the safety of our kids, other criteria such as proper operation and safety standards as well as proper control and management systems in school transport should also be met.”
The transport department announced new school transport regulations in April last year.
Among them were fitting buses with GPS devices and CCTV networks, providing attendants for pupils aged 11 and under, and setting an 80kph speed limit. School buses must not be older than 10 years, and operators should coordinate with schools to ensure a one-way journey for any school bus does not exceed 75 minutes.
The regulations were developed in coordination with Adec and Abu Dhabi Police.
rruiz@thenational.ae
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- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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