DUBAI // The completion of extensive and seemingly constant road works is high on the New Year's wish list of Dubai drivers, who say the projects have turned sections of the emirate into permanent construction sites.
Motorists, some of whom spend at least an hour in traffic each day, generally welcomed the expansion of major thoroughfares such as the Sheikh Zayed and Emirates roads as it shortens their commuting time. Still, they yearned for an end to the rows of red cones and yellow road signs that are ever-present reminders of traffic diversions.
"Sometimes the construction doesn't look like it will ever get finished. It just takes too long," said Mansi Iyer, a management student, about a stretch of road leading from downtown Bur Dubai through Oud Metha towards the popular Lamcy Plaza. "The diversions seem to have been there forever. It becomes difficult for people and adds to traffic."
That construction zone is just one of many. The four Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) projects taken up this year included the extensive Parallel Roads project near Business Bay, approach roads to the Dubai Sports Complex and building up the streets leading to the residential/commercial Al Barsha area.
Those are just the new roadworks. Ongoing projects involve construction at the First Interchange, the Defence Roundabout, the Al Ittihad Road near Sharjah and the Emirates and Al Khail roads, both of which are important highways. The RTA has said that while portions of the Sheikh Zayed Road scheme will be completed by the middle of next year, other projects would take as long as three years.
"Work must go on. This is for the future," said a senior RTA official who declined to be identified. "The RTA wants smooth traffic for all and this road work will ensure that."
That view was backed by Varkki Pallathucheril, a professor of urban planning at the American University of Sharjah, who said sustained construction was a necessary evil in a constantly growing city.
"The challenge that the RTA faces is incredible," he said. "It is a monumental task to provide good and sufficient transportation infrastructure. If you look around you can see that effort. We can quibble about the details, but that to me is not a useful discussion."
Some of the construction costs are covered by Dubai's Salik electronic toll collection system on the Sheikh Zayed Road, which charges Dh4 per scan. However, some motorists avoid that expense by using the Emirates and Al Khail roads as an alternative to coughing up the road tax.
The RTA reportedly collected Dh776 million in Salik fees in 2009 compared with Dh669 million in 2008 and Dh214 million over six months after July 2007, when the toll was introduced in Dubai.
"These roads without Salik are better and some portions are amazing because they get you to places like Motor City in 20 minutes," said Farah Agha, the head of a trading and property management firm. "Before it was a nightmare. If you needed to meet somebody at the other end of town you would never, ever make it."
The wide-ranging construction sites brought queries from some people who wanted to know why specific projects were not completed before another swathe of roadway was torn up.
"Why don't they complete existing work - finish a road, complete a flyover - rather than launch into something new?," asked Candice Xavier, a resident of the Springs community, where heavy road machinery has turned what should be quiet residential streets into main traffic arteries amid extensive and noisy roadworks.
While connectivity may have improved in some places, travelling to Sharjah remains an irritant to many motorists. Navigation of the Sheikh Zayed Road in eastern Dubai can be a challenge, with constantly shifting diversions, occasional gridlock and poorly marked exits.
The Dubai-based Ms Agha, for example, ensures she travels to Sharjah against rush-hour traffic. For others such as the bank manager Ali Lahoud, the commute is a daily four-wheeled grind.
"Whatever they [RTA] do - one, two or three lanes - it still takes me close to two hours some days," said Mr Lahoud who lives in Sharjah and works in Dubai. "The roads get choked both ways and this is a daily routine. There must be a solution because people just lose their patience."
That solution may not come through normal organisational channels. Essa al Maidour, the Dubai Municipality assistant director for engineering and planning, believes more creative thinking is needed in the years ahead.
"Sometimes engineering solutions are not the answer," he said. "We are expanding to the best efficiency but even 10 lanes may not be efficient sometimes. We have to change behaviours, we can change office timings. We have to think outside the box, whether as users, as the public or as government bodies."
rtalwar@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
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.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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On sale: Now
Company%20profile%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EElggo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20August%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Luma%20Makari%20and%20Mirna%20Mneimneh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Education%20technology%20%2F%20health%20technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Four%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
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Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
