UAE
Formalities to handle the dead
Formalities to handle the dead
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: January 11, 2008, 23:40
Dubai: The UAE is an open country and any person of any religion or ethnic backgrounds can shift to live here or choose to visit if he or she meets the residency and labour requirements.
However, if an expatriate dies here there is an established process and certain steps need to be taken either to bury him or her or to repatriate his or her body to their home countries.
There are seven emirates in the UAE in which expatriates are allowed to reside but when a person dies, his or her friends will encounter big differences in the law between the emirates which allows burying expatriates here.
Some emirates like Sharjah and some other emirates will not allow the burying of non-Muslims in its cemeteries as its cemeteries are open only for burial of Muslims. It is immaterial from which emirates their residency has been issued.
While in Dubai and Ajman they allow the burial of Muslims or non-Muslims in their grave yards.
However, in order for a burial in Dubai you must have your residency visa issued from Dubai only otherwise you will not be allowed to be buried in this emirate. While in Ajman incidentally, the law permits the burial of dead expatriates regardless of from where their residency visa has been issued.
There are some religions which do not bury their dead beloved but they cremate them such as Hinduism. One should know that the only emirate which has such facilities for cremating bodies is Dubai but one should have Dubai residency visa to be able to be cremated in Dubai.
The burying of Muslims of any nationality at any of the emirates is free of charge while non-Muslims have to pay specific amount of money for burying and using the municipalities vehicles to transfer the body from hospital or morgue to the graveyard.
At the same time there are many expatriates who do not want to bury their beloved here but they refer to transfer the body to their home countries. In order to do so, there are specific processes to repatriate the body of their beloved friends or relatives which could take a long time even exceeding one week.
If a worker dies here, the company where the labourer worked has to pay the cost of repatriating his or her body to their home country. In the case of a domestic helper too, the cost of burying or repatriating his or her body to their home country must be paid by the employer only.
People on visit visa are also allowed to be buried in UAE grave yards.
Helping special needs children
Helping special needs children
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter GULF NES Published: February 09, 2008, 01:04
Dubai: The UAE takes very special care to create a conducive learning atmosphere for children with special needs.
If a person is planning to live and work in the UAE and if he has a child who is physically or mentally challenged there are several special schools that take care of such a child. The disabilities could range from hearing problems, mental abilities, autism, Down’s Syndrome, attention deficit disorder or any other disability.
By UAE law children with disability have equal rights and opportunities like any other normal child.
Public and private schools here may not turn away a child on the basis of his or her disability.
People with special needs can have access to the benefits of education and enjoy equality of opportunity in schools and colleges.
One should be aware that there are few governmental centres for children with disabilities. Such centres usually accept children of any nationalities, but fees will depend on the child’s case.
It is important to note that such centres have limited number of seats and many children are usually on the waiting list.
In order to enrol your child in such centres you as well as your child must have a valid residence visa.
Mentally challenged children of varying levels of disabilities who are between 3 years and 16 years can be enrolled in public or private Training Centre for Children with Special Needs. Such centres enrol children of all nationalities.
At any of the special needs centres one must submit medical report and passport copy with valid visa.
The child will receive help in areas such as speech and language therapy, movement therapy, early intervention and other therapies.
Most of these centres are run by funds raised from the community.
The main centre in the country is the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services which is a school for the mentally challenged and it provides services to more than 2,000 children.
The city takes care of its wards from birth till the age of 25 years, and follows a no-rejection policy. Pupils of all nationalities are accepted.
Students must speak Arabic and undergo an evaluation process in order to determine the programmes needed for their rehabilitation.
However, children with extreme cases of epilepsy are not allowed.
Al Noor Centre for Children with Special Needs in Dubai run under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Social Affairs also takes care of children with special needs.
The centre helps special needs children from their early years to adulthood.
In Abu Dhabi there is the Centre for Language and Speech Impaired which helps students overcome impairment in speech and use of language both in Arabic and English.
Useful Information
30 schools to choose from
– There are more than 30 private and governmental centres for special needs people in the UAE.
– There are centres that handle children with varying levels of disability such as Down’s Syndrome and Autism, and other conditions such as visual, hearing and physical impairment.
– There are early intervention programmes at these special needs centres for children below the age of three. One can visit Dubai Centre for People with Special Needs, Ras Al Khaimah Centre and Fujairah Centre.
– If you have an autistic child you can visit Dubai Autism Centre which is a non-profit organisation in serving children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In Sharjah there is the Autism Centre Sharjah.
– Other schools that specialises in certain fields are Al Amal Kindergarten for the Deaf in Sharjah and Al Amal School for the Deaf in Sharjah.
– There are many private centres for special need children such as the ABA Centre for Special Needs in Ras Al Khaimah. It is a non-profit organisation that provides services for special needs children.
The price of love
The price of love
By Shireena Al Nowais, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 07, 2008, 00:15
Future brides and their husbands-to-be are discovering just how much it can cost to tie the knot at the Bride Show Abu Dhabi
With a few exceptions, I have to confess this year’s bride show was less shocking than most years. It’s either that or I’ve just seen it all.
I do my best to approach these events with an open mind and try very hard to mask the look of horror on my face when an exhibitor coolly tells me that the centre stage costs Dh300,000.
But there were times this week when I just couldn’t help it at the Bride Show Abu Dhabi.
One of them is a stunning stall for flower arrangements and centre pieces from Paris. Space and Flowers’ floral designs and centrepieces cost anything between Dh50,000 and Dh1 million.
And you don’t get to keep the centrepieces or long flower vases! You do, however, get to take home all the flowers which will last longer than the Dh100 invitations (per piece) at Kazma for wedding cards.
Giveaways
And just when you think it can’t possibly get any worse, you find a flock of soon-to-be brides trying to decide whether they should buy the Dh35 or the Dh50 giveaways, at Kazana and Raife.
It isn’t enough that they will feed and entertain their guests, they have to give them gifts too.
This is at least an additional Dh10,000 to the groom’s tab.
Thankfully, some brides are immune to the wedding mania and, in a show of sanity, choose to rent expensive Dh80,000 or Dh60,000 dresses for Dh19,000 or Dh5,000 from designers like Rahmanian.
According to exhibitors, those who do go all the way and buy the Dh80,000 or Dh60,000 wedding gown, can sell it back to the store and get half or a quarter of their money back.
Of the popular stalls at the bride show, where most brides were willing to cough up thousands of dirhams, were the spas, beauty treatment and make-up stalls.
At Helen Beauty Centre, a bride can get her hair and make-up done for around Dh3,000. Sharanis spa, on the other hand, has a Dh10,000 to Dh15,000 six-week intensive regime of facials and Moroccan baths for brides.
These beauty and make-up exhibitors promised to turn every bride into a sparkling beauty. And that’s one area that no bride is willing to cut back on.
Did you know?
Exhibitors include Amato, Cygnet Fashion, Ghanati Couture and La Donna.
Fashion shows, held at 5pm, 7pm, 8pm and 9pm daily, include Cygnet, Arabesque Sheilas and Abayas and creations by Rahmanian.
Finalists in the Swarovski Abaya Design Awards will have their creations showcased on the catwalk at 5pm tomorrow.
About the event
What: The Bride Show Abu Dhabi
Where: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
When: Today and tomorrow.
Time: 3pm to 11pm.
Etihad set to increase India flights
Etihad set to increase India flights Staff Report GULF NEWS Published: February 07, 2008, 00:15
Dubai: Etihad Airways yesterday said it will boost its flights to India with the addition of four new major cities – Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Kozhikode – to its expanding global network.
The decision follows successful bilateral talks earlier this week between the governments of the UAE and India, a statement said yesterday. The airline is now finalising launch dates for these services.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways chief executive, said: “Etihad is always keen to build up its Indian services and we are thrilled to have been given the rights to serve four new cities.”
Etihad now operates daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai, New Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. The airline said it had set its sights on eight cities in India for new services.
Relatives cannot be reported ‘absconding’
Relatives cannot be reported ‘absconding’
By Ahmed Abdul Aziz (Our staff reporter) KHALEEJ TIMES 5 February 2008
ABU DHABI — The employers who hire their relatives in their firms are not allowed to file ‘absconding’ reports with the Ministry of Labour (MoL) in case the relative stops reporting for work, according to a senior official at the ministry.
Ahmed Al Besher, Legal Advisor to the Disputes Department in the MoL, told Khaleej Times that companies’ owners who recruit their relatives (uncles, nephews, brothers or sisters) have no right to file ‘absconding’ report against them, according to the Labour law.
“If the relative is not a reference, so who will be?,” asked Al Besher, noting that the MoL’s legal advisers refer to the relatives in some cases to find the labourers or get information about them to investigate the reports of absconding.”
“Hence, the ministry doesn’t receive any ‘absconding’ report because we consider it as incorrect reports so it would not be acceptable to receive from employers,” added Al Besher.
The statement came after an Egyptian owner of a services company filed an ‘absconding’ report against his employee who is also his nephew.
“The employee took emergency leave for a week and he travelled to his country without informing his employer and spent more than 15 days,” said Al Besher.
The employer believed that the employee had left the company forever because there were some problems between them so he had filed the ‘absconding’ report.
“The employers should be careful when they take the step of filing an ‘absconding’ on their employees because if it is a false report they will face penalties such as a fine of Dh10,000, downgrading the company’s category as well as suspending the firm’s activities for three months,” said Al Besher.
“In that case we have the employer remove the ‘absconding’ report because he confessed that it was by mistake,” added Al Besher.
He explained that if any employee who is the employer’s relative, does not resume work after emergency or annual, the employer seek cancellation of the visa with a six-month ban.
Supermarkets start charging for plastic bags
Supermarkets start charging for plastic bags
By Emmanuelle Landaisand Mahmood Saberi, Staff Reporters GULF NEWS Published: February 04, 2008, 23:31
Dubai: Geant became the first supermarket in the UAE to start charging for plastic bags on Monday as part of the celebrations for the UAE’s national Environment Day and two more hypermarkets will soon introduce similar charges.
Environmental protection is a top priority in spite of the UAE’s huge investment in the oil and gas sector said Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, in a statement for Environment Day, celebrated for the last 11 years on February 4.
Mohammad Numan, environment and health education department officer at Dubai Municipality did not name the other two hypermarkets, saying that an agreement will be signed with them next week. He said Dubai was the first emirate to initiate this campaign against plastic bags.
Geant has 70,000 tonnes of plastic leaving its store per year in the form of plastic bags according to Gabriel De Andrade, group merchandise manager.
Ordinary plastic bags will cost 25 fils each. Customers will be able to reuse the bags at any time. For each bag returned a credit note of the same value of the bags will be issued. An alternative reusable jute bag is also available to shoppers for Dh5.
The plastic-reducing campaign is being held under the umbrella of My Bag My Earth launched last year in collaboration with Dubai Municipality with the aim of reducing plastic bags in stores and providing shoppers with alternatives.
Shoppers had a mixed reaction to the new fee at Geant hypermarket yesterday. A group of volunteers from the International Association of Human Values was at hand to explain the move.
Ramiah, a construction worker, said he could not understand why he had to pay for the bags which he earlier got for free.
“We reuse them for throwing out our garbage,” he said, when told about the pollution hazards.
“I am paying more for everything else anyway,” said Mehta, a housewife from India.
Litter-free: 300 take part in clean-up
About 300 volunteers including fishermen, students and dhow workers took part in a voluntary clean-up of Dubai’s Al Hamriya Port to mark Environment Day.
The event was supported by professional divers as well as volunteers from oil firms and shipping companies
In conjunction with the UAE Environment Day the Middle East premiere of Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental documentary film, The 11th Hour aired in Dubai last night and will be released on February 14 in the Grand Megaplex and Cinestar Mall of the Emirates.
UAE faces 2 weeks of net, phone disruption
UAE faces 2 weeks of net, phone disruption
Dubai: Residences and offices in the United Arab Emirates face up to two weeks of Internet and international call disruption following damage to two undersea cables in the Mediterranean Sea late last week.
Telecom services provider Etisalat said Sunday it has been informed by India-based Flag Telecom, operator of one of the cables, Flag Europe-Asia, that it will take at least two weeks to repair.
Flag is part of Reliance Communications. The operator of the other cable, Sea-ME-We-4, has said that it would carry out repair work Feb 8.
Large areas in the Gulf plunged into Internet and telephone blackout after the two intercontinental cables were damaged off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt last Wednesday.
The situation got worse when another cable, Falcon, 56 km off Dubai on the UAE-Oman segment, also operated by Flag, was damaged Friday.
Though the third damage did not affect Etisalat, it disrupted the services of UAE’s other telecom services provider, Du.
According to local media reports, Flag has said that a repair ship would arrive at the location of the third damaged cable in the next few days, but so far bad weather has prevented the vessel from setting off from Abu Dhabi port.
In message posted on its website, Flag has stated that that it has arranged part of the restoration capacity via terrestrial route between the landing stations in Al Khobar and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Additional capacity was being restored on alternative routes for customers who have requested ad hoc restoration service.
Source: http://www.manoramaonline.com
After gale force winds it’s chill time
After gale force winds it’s chill time
By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 03, 2008, 00:45
Dubai: After a weekend battered by gale force winds, residents can breathe easy with less winds but still cold climate.
The weather will be cool and calm over the rest of the week with no rain forecast.
Light and breezy weather will continue over the next four days with temperatures wavering between 12C and 19C maximum in the daytime.
The rest of the week will continue to chill residents with cold temperatures, according to a forecaster at the Dubai Meteorological Office.
“It will be a little hazy in the afternoons but it will stay cool and fine,” he said.
Sunday will be slightly hazy again and breezy in the afternoon. The maximum temperature will be 13C on Sunday in the daytime and will only peak to 19C later on in the week.
“Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be fine but cold in the morning,” he said. The lowest temperature will be 12C on Wednesday morning.
“Most of the week will remain quite cold,” he added.
High winds experienced over the weekend which knocked trees down and limited visibility on some main roads have died down and generally no strong winds or shamals are expected in the coming few days.
Despite sandy tracks people were seen jogging at Safa Park.
Ditch plastic to save cash and the environment
Ditch plastic to save cash and the environment
By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 02, 2008, 21:30
Abu Dhabi: Prices of plastic shopping bags have increased by 200 per cent forcing retailers to look for ways to minimise their costs, Gulf News has learnt.
Several retail chains in the country said that they are looking for ways to minimise the use of plastic bags.
“Apart from environmental degradation, the price rise of plastic bags make an additional cost which could be shared with the customers if alternative arrangements can be made,” said a spokesperson for one of the largest retail chains in the region.
Some markets are even ready to reduce prices of goods for customers if they start using their own re-usable jute or cloth bags.
“There has been a 200 per cent increase in plastic bag prices in the past one-and-a-half years. The average price has increased from Dh3 per kilo to Dh9 per kilo,” said V. Nandakumar, corporate communication manager of EMKE Group, which runs Lulu hypermarkets.
He said that their 47 outlets in the country consume about 100 tonnes of plastic bags a month. “If we take the case of our about 69 outlets in the Gulf region, the consumption goes up to 150 tonnes a month.”
The millions of dirhams spent by each outlet on the environmentally damaging bags could be shared with customers, he said.
He disclosed the group’s plan to initiate such a step. “We are planning awareness campaigns against plastic bags in cooperation with various official agencies,” said Nandakumar.
Al Maya supermarkets in Dubai said they are also planning an awareness campaign against plastic bags.
Its director, Kamal Vachani, said people are more serious about pollution caused by plastic bags and their use has gone down.
Several awareness campaigns are being carried out against the use of plastic bags.
Dubai Municipality and the International Association for Human Values recently announced the Green Shopper awards, which will reward stores that take steps to reduce use of plastic bags.
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