ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi Traffic Police are urging the Department of Transport (DoT) to install illuminated message boards to alert drivers about road and weather conditions as soon as possible, following the 127-car pile-up on Saturday.
Traffic officials said such signs could have prevented the chain of accidents that resulted in one death and at least 60 injuries near Al Samha on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway.
"These signs could give advanced notice of weather conditions and advise motorists to slow down and drive at a certain speed," said Brig Gen Hussein al Harethi, head of the Abu Dhabi Traffic and Patrols Directorate. "They could also inform drivers of existing accidents before they approach them."
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Brig Gen al Harethi said the traffic police had requested the signs since "Fog Tuesday" in March 2008, when more than 200 cars crashed during morning rush-hour on the E-11 near Ghantoot, killing four and injuring 350. Traffic police have now asked the DoT to speed up the process.
In December, the DoT announced the implementation of an Integrated Transport System (ITS), a five-year project to provide an advanced network of communication and information technology to drivers.
This includes short-term projects that are scheduled for completion before the third quarter of this year, including variable message signs and incident detection stations.
However, traffic police officials said such accidents were not a result of road and weather conditions alone.
Driving behaviour was deemed the root of the problem on Saturday, after a driver failed to slow down in foggy conditions and rear-ended the vehicle in front of him, causing a domino effect on the vehicles behind them.
"We always tell drivers: if there is fog slow down, or park and wait on the side of the road, and use the hazard lights only when necessary," Bri Gen al Harethi said. "Leave enough space between you and the vehicle in front of you and abide by the speed limits. Speeding and tailgating are reckless behaviours, regardless of weather and road conditions."
Such behaviour would not be tolerated, he said. Patrols would be intensified to catch offenders.
A representative from the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology said visibility that morning was less than 50 metres. Taking precautionary measures in such conditions was "common sense", he said.
"We knew in advance that the fog was approaching, and we released a series of warnings and notifications the previous evening to the police and traffic authorities," he said.
"However such an incident is mostly the fault of the driver involved. Even if the driver does not receive the message, he should recognise the fact that since visibility is low he should slow down. It's these drivers' poor judgement that put others in danger."
The quick response by police and rescue teams helped save lives. Police arrived at the scene in five minutes and cleared the roads two hours after the incident.
Long-term plans by the DoT that form part of the ITS project include a motorway radio system that broadcasts messages to alert motorists of road conditions, and a navigation system that feeds new cars with weather warnings, displaying them on built-in navigation systems or overriding their stereo system to issue the alerts.
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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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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
