I was pretty shocked and upset to read that Ski Dubai had brought penguins to its establishment (Penguins go on show at Ski Dubai, February 1). Why does Ski Dubai need to bring penguins to a giant freezer in the middle of the desert?

Dubai, Jan 30th, 2012 -- A colony of snow penguins from Sea World in San Antonio will move into Ski Dubai in Mall of Emirates starting in February 2012. Visitors to ÔSnow Penguins at Ski Dubai´ will get a chance to get up close and personal with the birds and learn about them. Photo by: Sarah Dea/ The National

They pretend it is for conservation but it is all about money and marketing. If they really care about endangered species why not make a donation to protect penguins in their natural habitat?

Or why not give money to build a new zoo in Dubai to replace the one where dozens of animals are suffering from the lack of space and heat in the summer?

Once again, people are using environmental concerns to justify their commercial actions.

Sebastien, France

ABU DHABI // Supermarkets are facing growing pressure from suppliers to increase their prices, despite several warnings from the Ministry of Economy.

Fruit and vegetables at the Waitrose supermarket in Dubai Mall. Suppliers are increasing pressure on large retailers to increase prices. Pawan Singh / The National

Last week, the Cabinet ended import monopolies on more than 12 essential commodities including honey, eggs, fruit juices, salt, yeast, animal feed, dairy products, detergents and hygiene products.

But while the Government had hoped the move would boost competition between suppliers and allow shops to offer lower prices, the result has been greater pressure from suppliers to raise prices.

“The daily conversations going on between retailers and suppliers revolve around the increase of prices,” said Peter Lonsdale, the retail operations manager at LuLu Hypermarkets in Abu Dhabi. “We get pressure from these retailers all the time.”

Mr Lonsdale said in general, suppliers increase their prices by between 5 and 15 per cent, but LuLu would not give into the pressure.

“We have to abide by the ministry and not increase our prices on a range of commodities without their authorisation,” he said. “We can’t just go and increase prices until we get the ministry’s approval.”

Fahmi Al Shawa, the managing director of Convenience Arabia, which is based in Dubai and owns the Circle K brand, said his company’s prices were also subject to ministry approval.

But Mr Al Shawa said 95 per cent of the price of luxury items and basic commodities was dictated by suppliers.

“We fight with them regularly to maintain prices,” he said. “At the end of the day it all depends on them.”

Mr Al Shawa said prices tended to increase by a few percentage points each year. More info

Suppliers turn screws on prices

DUBAI // Roads will be closed around Downtown Dubai and Al Satwa tomorrow morning for the Dubai Marathon.

The 42-kilometre race starts at 7am on Emaar Boulevard, which will be closed to traffic and is scheduled to reopen at 2pm, according to the race programme. The 10km race starts at 7.15am and the 3km fun-run starts at 10.30am.

Roads in Old Town will be closed from 4am to 2pm. Jumeirah Beach Road will be closed until mid-afternoon.

Runners were told roads will reopen six hours after the start of the race and were advised to use footpaths after that.

Organisers told race participants that footbridges on Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall metro station and Business Bay metro station will open early, even though the metro does not operate until 2pm on Fridays. Participants can park in Al Wasl and walk over Sheikh Zayed Road to the starting line. Organisers also strongly advised competitors to take taxis to avoid delays looking for parking.

The RTA will announce more details later today on changes to bus routes and schedules as well as road closures tomorrow.

The race continues up Doha Road and turns on to 312 Street, which runs behind DIFC and Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

It then turns left on to the D73, continues over the Trade Centre roundabout and down Al Diyafah Street in Al Satwa.

The race then turns right on to Jumeirah Beach Road for more than a kilometre as far as the end of D94 and the entrance to Dubai Dry Docks. The route then turns, going for about 12.5km as far as the Public Beach next to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. It then turns back on the same route and continues back up Jumeirah Beach road, Al Diyafah Street, behind DIFC and back along Emaar Boulavard to the finish line.

It is the first time in its 13-year history that the race will start in Downtown Dubai. Previously, the starting line was in Media City and ran along Jumeirah Beach Road. More info

Funding has been approved for four Department of Transport (DoT) projects by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

Abu Dhabi Metro

They are the Mafraq-Ghweifat motorway to the Saudi border, the Dubai-Abu Dhabi motorway, a metro and light-rail transit system and the alleviation of Abu Dhabi’s traffic congestion.

Further details about budgets, project design and completion dates have yet to be released.

The Mafraq-Ghweifat motorway links the urban area south of Abu Dhabi to the Saudi Arabian border and is part of a strategy to develop industry, tourism and social development in the Western Region.

Almost 3.5 million passengers crossed the Ghweifat border last year. The region has 9 per cent of the emirate’s population and 58 fatal crashes per year, according to the most current police statistics. Road fatalities are double the national average.

The new three-lane, 327-kilometre motorway will run parallel to the existing two-lane road, the main thoroughfare in the region.

The plan includes drainage tunnels, underpasses for livestock, petrol stations, ambulance points and bridges for safer turning.

The existing two-lane motorway, where people often drive at speeds of more than 140kph, has U-turns and is largely unlit.

The project previously went to tender under a public-private partnership basis in 2010.

In May, the DoT said it was re-evaluating plans to use a public-private partnership to build the Dh10billion motorway, which has been in development since 2009.

Bidding companies spent millions in the tendering process.

Support for the new Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway indicates a positive feasibility study, but the DoT has yet to release further details about design.

The first light-rail transit (LRT) segment is expected to be operational by 2016-17. The DoT earlier stated that the preliminary design would be finished by this summer. No further details were provided.

“The Abu Dhabi metro and LRT projects are currently under feasibility studies and the results will be announced accordingly,” a DoT statement said.

More info

Abu Dhabi Metro project. Video

The metro rail system will run approximately 131km, and will be supported by tram and bus feeder services. Besides serving the projected increase in population of the city and relieving congestion, the metro will connect the mainland with communities such as Saadiyat, Yas Islands and Al Raha Beach.

Meanwhile, the capital — already committed to sustainable transportation in its Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 — has raised the bar a level higher by signing the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Charter on Sustainable Development.

Source:  www.youtube.com

It’s a well worn cliché perhaps, but racing really does improve the breed, and one exhibitor at the World Future Energy Summit I was surprised to see was the Williams Formula One team. Doug MacLennan is Williams’ sales and marketing manager and was on-hand to explain why there was an F1 car on the stand.

Williams says F1's kinetic energy recovery system could be used in public transport systems, such as the Dubai Metro. Lee Hoagland / The National

“We work out of our technology centre in Qatar and are taking F1 know-how to see if there’s a commercial marketplace for it,” he told Motoring. “And one of the technologies we’re looking at is the kinetic energy recovery system [Kers] that’s being used in F1. We’ve taken the system from our F1 cars, which is a flywheel set-up that stores energy and provides it back to the car for extra power when it’s called upon.”

The system has already been downscaled, he said, for use in endurance racing and Porsche has it fitted not only in the GT3 R Hybrid but also in the stunning 918 RSR, with which Porsche caused collective jaws to hit the floor at the Detroit motor show in early 2011. In that car, the unit sits beside the driver in the passenger compartment, helping push the RSR’s power output to 767hp (supplementing the V8 engine’s not inconsiderable 563hp).

“But it isn’t just race cars that benefit from this technology,” continued MacLennan. “It could conceivably be used in hybrid buses and light railway systems, for instance, and a larger unit has been designed to help power trams, larger trains and transportation systems like the Metro in Dubai. Basically, any vehicle that stops and starts often, where we have the opportunity to recover the braking energy and store it for a short period of time, can use this equipment to deliver the power back and accelerate.”

When it comes to personal transportation, at the moment there’s a collaboration between Williams and Jaguar for the hybrid C-X75 supercar, which was recently confirmed for production. “The benefits are obvious, because if you can harness the energy produced by a powertrain when a vehicle is decelerating and use it again when accelerating, performance is greatly enhanced and the net result is a decrease in fuel consumption. Which is why it’s being used in racing and in supercar development,” added MacLennan. More info

There is a surreal moment riding the lift to the second floor in Al Ghazal Mall when visitors realise they are being watched by a giant bunny rabbit and a bear.

Oasis Centre, on Sheikh Zayed Road, has also been pushing its loyalty programme to attract visitors. Pawan Singh / The National

Al Ghazal is not an imaginary shopping centre in a fantasy children’s novel but a small mall in Dubai that is enjoying a fairytale revival.

The bunny and sundry animals are mascot-style costumes that stand outside Mr Ben’s Costume Closet, a fancy-dress store that is extending its retail space in the mall.

“[The animals] set the tone for the whole shopping event,” said one mall visitor who recently shopped at Mr Ben’s. “It was my first time in the mall and I went for that place.”

Al Ghazal, which is just a few kilometres from Dubai Mall, suffered a sharp drop in visitors in recent years that left the shopping centre with only half of its retail space leased at the end of 2010.

But one year on, occupancy is at 84 per cent and is expected to reach 100 per cent by March, according to Colliers International, which operates Al Ghazal Mall.

In the first week of December, the mall had 16,800 visitors, compared with 5,400 during the same period in 2010, and the target is to hit 30,000 per week, Colliers says.

“The truth of the matter is that there’s lots of malls suffering, because there’s so many that are repeating the same type of business,” says David Zlatarich, the property manager at Colliers. “What we have been trying to do is serve the community and not have competition inside the mall. We cannot have four shoe shops because that creates excess competition.”

After losing tenants and visitors in recent years to the emirate’s huge and hugely successful shopping centres such as Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates, the smaller malls are experiencing better fortunes as they remix their stores and offer products unique to the vicinity.

Many of Dubai’s malls are trying to offer discount shops and greater value. Some are adding service providers such as health centres and dentists, while others are being marketed as high-end boutiques.

Al Ghazal has added fewer but bigger stores. The shopping centre includes a dentist, a doctor’s surgery, an eye specialist, a phone repair shop and a Lebanese restaurant. It has added a Carrefour Market in the past 18 months and a Brands For Less store.

The mall has also been flexible in its rents, offering deals below average prices and giving tenants the opportunity to sign up for just one year to gauge sales.

Jones Lang LaSalle, a global property consultancy, estimates the average retail rent in Dubai at Dh1,800 (US$490) per square metre. More info

DUBAI // Fourteen new fog monitoring stations in Dubai will caution motorists and prevent fog-related accidents, the Dubai Municipality said today.

Meteorological information that could help save lives is shown during the inauguration of the monitoring station in the Al Warqa area. Jaime Puebla / The National

The first-of-its-kind automated monitors in the country – including five on various coasts – will improve visibility information on land and sea in the emirate.

“One of the purposes is to prevent any accident,” said Hussein Nasser Lootah, the director general of Dubai Municipality, after inaugurating one of the stations in Al Warqa’a, off Emirates Road.

“The other is to make drivers slow down…We have a number of these stations distributed in the city of Dubai including Hatta. These stations give a warning when we have fog in the city especially in the main roads and highways,” he said.

Though the stations have been operational for the past two months, the municipality began sharing visibility information with Dubai Police only today.

The initiative seeks to avoid accidents like the 2008 crash in Ghantoot – infamously dubbed Fog Tuesday – in which four died and hundreds were injured because of low visibility on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway. Two years later, a similar pile-up in Jebel Ali killed a bus driver and injured 40 people.

The stations will also give live updates of temperature, humidity and wind speed in different areas.

“We have spot, live pictures from these areas. All these pictures will be transferred to a server in municipality. We are linked with police headquarters and they will inform drivers if there is fog,” Mr Lootah said.

Eight sophisticated, automated fog-detection machines are located on land, mostly near arterial highways. Five others have been installed near coasts, and one has been set up in the sea, about 20 kilometres off the Jumeirah coast. They were installed in the past eight months at a total cost of Dh2million. More info

DUBAI // At the stroke of midnight last December 31, an estimated 600,000 New Year revellers watched in awe as the Burj Khalifa put on the world’s highest pyrotechnic display. Many, however, were watching through their car windows.

Spectators photograph the fireworks at the Burj Khalifa on New Year’s Eve in Dubai last year. Jeff Topping / The National

The clogged roads and jammed Metro stations that night have become as discussed as the three-minute fireworks display itself. Passengers reported scenes of chaos at some Metro stops as long queues snaked through stations, with people stranded for hours waiting for space on a train. Traffic ground to a standstill on roads around the 828-metre tower, with some people choosing to walk home along Sheikh Zayed Road rather than spend hours in jams.

Tomorrow, Emaar Properties, the Burj Khalifa’s development company, is expecting even more visitors to what has become the focal point for Dubai’s New Year’s Eve festivities. With government bodies highlighting the event as integral to securing Dubai’s position as a “global hub for events”, authorities are aiming for as smooth a night as possible.

Emaar itself is urging people to arrive before 10pm, and said it has coordinated with bodies including the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Dubai Police to prepare for the crowds. A spokesperson for the company said the plans would help ensure “the celebrations can be enjoyed by the visitors seamlessly”.

According to Dubai Police, a key problem last year was that too many people poured into such areas as Burj Park, an island overlooking the Burj Khalifa site that had capacity for just 15,000 people.

“No special arrangements were made to deal with the overflow of people,” said Brigadier Abdullah Al Gaithi of the Dubai Police, who is deputy head of a committee that handles security for events in the emirate. “This year hopefully things will be different, and we have put in place a plan where more than 500,000 people can very easily visit the venue and enjoy the celebrations.”

Once people reach the site, they have the choice of gathering at Burj Park or other areas including the Waterfront Promenade near Dubai Mall, Burj Plaza, The Pavilion art centre and lounge, and Emaar Boulevard.

In terms of road management, the police will split the roads leading to the Burj Khalifa into lanes designated for private vehicles, buses and taxis, and for emergency vehicles. There will be added traffic patrols on major roads in central Dubai, such as Sheikh Zayed Road. Last year the Defence roundabout was among the worst affected areas.

“If we start seeing that the main areas are becoming overcrowded we will close the roads leading to the Boulevard and direct the people to alternative places,” said Brig Al Gaithi. “I hope the public will be cooperative and follow the orders of the police and understand that we are there to organise the event so they can enjoy the festivity.”

For pedestrians, there will be one entry gate into the tower’s fountain area and two exit gates in a bid to streamline the flow of visitors.

Four sand lots surrounding the tower have been levelled and provided with water dispensers for standing spectators. In addition, four police kiosks will be set up where people can report missing belongings or deliver found items. Officers will also distribute wristbands to children and ask parents to write their mobile numbers on them should they get separated.

“Last year many children were lost and we had to take them in the police stations and wait until their parents asked for them,” said Brig Al Gaithi.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to arrive at the site by Metro, taxi or bus. Last year, some people waited more than an hour to get a train home before giving up and walking.

The RTA said there will be a continuous Metro service from 5.50am on Saturday until midnight on Sunday. After midnight, trains will run every three minutes until 5.30am. The Burj Khalifa station will have a separate entry and exit point, and gates at the station have been widened. Those coming by train will have to use No1 cards or buy tickets ahead of time to keep the crowds moving. More info

DUBAI // The emergence of the mall as not only a shopping venue but a meeting place and an entertainment hub is the reason why the online retail market has yet to catch up with that in the West, a marketing academic says.

Shoppers such as these at Deira City Centre in Dubai view malls as a source of entertainment and socialising. Amy Leang / The National

Sitting at a computer and ordering online cannot match the entertainment value offered by Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s malls, with their thousands of restaurants and shops, ice rinks and even ski slopes and zoos, according to a report by Nnamdi Madichie, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Sharjah.

“Online shopping is unlikely to ever match the hedonistic consumption patterns in Dubai’s malls,” said Mr Madichie, whose findings were published in a report entitled, “The Bold and the Beautiful of the UAE Retail Environment” in October’s edition of the journal Marketing Intelligence and Planning.

“People go there not just for shopping, but also for a lifestyle option and for socialising. Entertainment has actually become the core product of shopping malls.

“This presents a major challenge to the country’s efforts to lure shoppers online.”

His report describes The Dubai Mall as a “mini metropolis”, highlighting its 1,200 shops, restaurants, an aquarium, skating rink, fountain show, cinema and hotels.

Many shoppers at The Dubai Mall confirmed they go to the venue not only for shopping but also for entertainment.

“It’s just something to do,” said Adrian Young, 33, from the UK. “I don’t always buy something. I come here for cinemas, restaurants or just to read a book.”

He said that the shipping charges for international retailers such as Amazon.com were often prohibitively high. “If I want to buy something, I buy it when I’m here,” he added. More info

The Dubai Government aims to cut its spending by 4.5 per cent next year as part of a long-running effort to streamline operations while continuing to invest in infrastructure.

Dubai's budget outlines large outlays on infrastructure and transport. Above, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, at a metro station in Dubai. Karim Sahib / AFP

A budget approved yesterday by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, called for Dh32.26 billion (US$8.78bn) of government spending next year against anticipated revenues of Dh30.4bn, resulting in a projected Dh1.8bn deficit.

That spending was about Dh1.42bn less than the amount outlined in this year’s budget, reflecting an effort to improve efficiency and save money across government departments.

Next year’s slimmer budget represents “continuing efforts to raise the efficiency of government spending through increasing productivity and improving economic and social returns”, the Dubai Government Media Office said in a statement, citing the Department of Finance.

The Supreme Fiscal Committee of Dubai this year asked departments to trim outlays by 20 to 25 per cent by 2013.

As spending has decreased over the past few years, so has the Dubai Government’s deficit.

Next year’s projected deficit is smaller than this year’s spending gap of Dh3.77bn. The budget deficit last year was Dh6bn. Government budget deficits must be filled either by borrowing money or tapping other resources such as asset sales or wealth funds.

Next year’s deficit amounted to about 0.6 per cent of Dubai’s estimated GDP, the government statement said, adding that it was “in line with international financial guidelines that state that the gap should not exceed 3 per cent of the GDP”. More info