Saudi Arabian authorities have launched a tender process to develop a new metro transit system in the capital Riyadh.

Riyadh

In a notice on the Arriyadh Development Authority’s website, “global consortia” were invited to bid to provide infrastructure including rolling stock and telecommunications, as well as tunnelling, civil, mechanical and electrical works.

The notice said that suppliers had until 20 June 2012 to submit their applications for prequalification to the development authority’s headquarters in Riyadh.

No details on the network’s cost, completion date or capacity were provided on the website. More info

Dubai: The quality and standard of school transport in Dubai has seen a dramatic change since 2008, when the Dubai Executive Council issued a law to control school transport.

Since then the Roads and Transport Authority has issued detailed regulations, guidelines and specifications for buses. It has also provided training to school bus drivers and attendants, and only those who are certified by the authority can drive school buses.

“What has happened since 2008 is a big revolution. There was no law to govern school transport before, nobody was accountable and no responsibilities were assigned. There is a huge difference between what you see now and before 2008,” said Eisa Al Dossary, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency, which also governs school transport.

The basic objective of the changes was to improve safety of pupils on the road and to achieve this RTA has divided the roles and responsibilities with all parties are held accountable. “We have issued guidelines for school administrators, teachers, drivers, attendants as well as parents and students and we keep organising safety awareness campaigns in schools,” said Al Dossary. More info

Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced two new bus routes
–Route 83 and Route 85 — that will connect Tecom free zones Dubai Internet
City (DIC), Dubai Media City (DMC) and Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV) to Karama
and Discovery Gardens respectively.

Dubai buses

The buses operating on the new routes can cut down the commuting time for
office-goers within the free zones by almost 50 per cent. The timings of the two
bus routes take into account the peak hours.

Badr Al Gargawi, chief executive officer of engineering management, Tecom
Investments, said: “The introduction of two new bus routes not only complements
the public transport facilities in our free zones, but also eases the parking
challenges and traffic congestion.”

The service comes as an immediate outcome of a survey that RTA conducted in
collaboration with Tecom Investments in September-October 2011. From a sample
size of over 800 workers and students, more than half said ‘yes’ to this bus
service if provided.

Essa Abdulrahman Al Dosari, CEO of Public Transport Agency, said: “While
plotting the new routes, we have taken into consideration the existing public
transport facilities and the call for enhanced services from a particular area.
We also study the outcomes of our survey prior to assigning new public bus
routes.” More info

His Highness Shaikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, inaugurated the new Homes r Us store at RAK Mall recently.

The 10th store at RAK Mall is spread across 40,000 square feet offering an eclectic selection of quality home furnishings, dedicated to helping customers create unique and fashionable living spaces.

“We are very delighted to further strengthen our presence in the UAE,” said Jayant Ganwani, CEO, Lal’s Group. “Expansion has always been an integral part of our mission. The introduction of the new store is part of the company’s on-going efforts to address the needs of its wide customer base in emerging markets across the region. With more stores to be introduced soon, Homes r Us is heading towards robust growth in 2012,” he added.

Housed in a contemporary set up, the store offers a distinctive spacious area of shopping to its customers. The expansive store offers some of the most exquisite furnishings at unbelievable prices, truly making it a homemaker’s paradise. With clearly segregated departments for each part of home furnishing, Homes r Us aims to offer an easy and delightful shopping experience with every visit.

Alongside their superb choice of products, Homes r Us offers the very best customer services by passionate, informed furnishing artists. Today, Homes r Us is a brand that people have come to trust and love. More info

French engineering group Alstom signed a 50 million euros ($65.7 million) contract to rehabilitate a gas-fired power station in Iraq, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Alstom will work on two units of the Khor Al Zubair station in the southern city of Basra, adding 60 MW to the power supply. The first unit will be reconnected in 2012 and the second before the summer of 2013, the company said.

Nine years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s electricity grid still provides only intermittent power and little progress has been made increasing the output from its vast oil and gas fields.

Alstom is already taking part in Iraq projects such as the Nineveh power plant and the Baghdad metro.

Iraq plans to boost the national grid’s capacity by about 1,500 MW in the next few months, Salam Qazaz, a deputy electricity minister said in February. More info

Dubai: The Licencing Agency at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is all set to release about 125 distinguished vehicle licensing plates comprising 2, 3, 4 and 5-digit number plates through its 76th Open Auction due on May 19.

Registration of interested participants will open on Saturday and will last for one week, said the Director of RTA Vehicles Licensing Mohammed Abdul Karim Nimaat.

“The next auction would offer an array of much sought-after distinctive number plates as they would combine 2 and 3-digit number plates of all codes in addition to 4 and 5-digit plates of code ‘M’,” he said.

“The Agency opted to hold the second open auction this year in response to the wishes of customers who were instrumental for the success of RTA’s future auctions, be it open or online,” he added.

Nimaat said that during the forthcoming open auction, about 125 distinguished numbers will be offered covering all codes highlighted by binary numbers such as (J 14), (K 51), and (I 56), triple digit plates including numbers such as (G 777), (J 200), (J 700), (K 400), (I 900) and (J 500), and four-digit plates, examples of which include (G 7777), (K 2000) and (M 4000), in addition to 5-digit plates such as (K 55555), (K 22222) and K (20000).

“Interested participants in the auction may get registered at Deira Licensing Centre, Main Customer Service Centre, Unified Services Centre (Al Tawar Municipality), and RTA website (www.rta.ae),” elaborated Nimaat, adding that registration for the auction would be open up to the day of the auction from 3pm to 5pm.  More info

A delegation from the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) visited the Sultan Al Owais School for Basic Education in Dubai as part of the initiative launched by the RTA in May 2010 entitled ‘Read More’ targeting public and private school students aged 7 to 14 years.

The move aims to promote the importance of reading among school students, refine their skills and encourage them to acquire knowledge on various subjects, which contribute to broadening their mental faculties and furthering their intellectual capacities.

The visit was attended by Essa Abdul Rahman Al Dosari, CEO of Public Transport Agency; Dr. Aysha Al Busmait, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communication; Adel Shakri, Director of Transportation Systems, and Furat Al Amri, Director of Franchising and Enforcement. More info

Statistics in Saudi Arabia, USA serve warnings of a possible spread of the disease among children

The Strategic Planning Dep’t at the Strategy & Corporate Governance Sector of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has recently held an educative lecture about Autism disorder entitled “Accept, Embrace and Support” in the context of the community-oriented initiatives regularly staged throughout the year. In the lecture, Sara Baqir, Head of Community Service Unit at the Dubai Autism Center, shed light on the disease highlighting its alarming spread rates around the globe and focused on the cautionary signs that have to be taken into consideration in order to check the onset of the disease early on.

Nasir Bu Shihab, Director of RTA Strategic Planning, highlighted the importance of the lecture as it communicates an important communal & humanitarian message defining the concept of autism; which has emerged as a syndrome posing a huge threat to communities given its remarkable spreading proportions. He stressed the importance of raising the mental awareness and perception of this dangerous malady which is knocking the alarm bells, citing that hosting an expert in this regard would add to the importance of the lecture in providing core data about autism, and communicating it to RTA employees who in turn would pass it on to others.

For her part Sara Baqir was delighted for taking part in the lecture and cooperating with the RTA; which, she says, is keen on forging firm links with community members through transferring knowledge to its employees and enriching their knowhow in various fields. She further added: “Autism is among the neurodevelopment disorders causing brain dysfunction that lasts throughout the life of the patient. Males are more vulnerable to catch the disease than females.”

“The USA described this disease of late as a plague, since the number of victims has increased exponentially to hit 1 case among each 88 children in 2011. Moreover, statistics conducted by Saudi Arabia revealed that autism has increased 10 folds over the last four years compared to the previous four years. Autism has become more rampant than children’s diabetes, cancer, visual impairment, and Down syndrome.

“There is a wide range of features associated with autistic children which adults have to look out for in their children, especially from birth up to 3 years of age, most notably the lack of interaction with others, avoidance of optical communication with others, and typical attitudes such as the continuous ebb & flow coupled with self-harm attitudes, inappropriate playing patterns, anaphylaxis or total lack of sensitivity, lack of sensing dangers, and specific mobility patterns.”

In a related development, Baqir says that 50% of autistic children lack the ability to speak, or experience difficulty in starting or continuing a conversation. “Moreover, they lack the ability to recall words from memory, repeat routine sentences, experience difficulty in changing their style or repeating a speech, and often tend to mix up pronouns. Reasons for autism can be attributed to genetic, or environmental factors in addition to others as studies are still progressing in figuring out them,” she added.

About the appropriate treatment, Baqir said:”There is no as yet a medical technique for the treatment of autism; however, there are some medicines to curb the associated symptoms of the disease. There are also important rehabilitation and educational programs, and studies have proved their efficacy in the treatment of the disease if early management or intervention in discovering autistic cases is made.

“The Dubai Autistic Center has been established in 2003 with the aim of integrating this segment in the community through providing effective remedial programs capable of heightening the community awareness about autism disorders. Currently the Center has 46 male & female students, and delivers a host of services including awareness-raising activities. It also delivers different therapeutic programs such as the treatment of speech, language, special education, movement & functions, computer education, and prayer offering along with a variety of outdoor activities, community-interaction and government communication programs,” she elaborated.

At the end of the lecture, Nasir Bu Shihab presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Sara Baqir in commendation of her efforts and endeavours of the Center in offering interactive & effective initiatives to raise the awareness of the community about autism. More info

A delegation from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited the Customer Service Department, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to get acquainted with the systems and programmes adopted by the Department in customer relations, especially as regards suggestions made by internal or external customers along with the mechanism adopted to motivate them to make feasible suggestions in the context of sharing experiences capable of improving the overall business conduct.

The meeting included a video presentation highlighting various sections of the Customer Service Department, and tasks entrusted to the 7 customer service centers spread across the Emirate of Dubai.

The delegation was received by Ahmed Mahboob, RTA Director of Customer Service, who stressed the importance of communicating with various community organizations as such exercise will have significant positive outcomes in contributing to strengthening the communicative & cooperative links and sharing expertise needed for achieving the common aspirations for delivering improved services at world-class standards.

The meeting included a video presentation highlighting various sections of the Customer Service Department, and tasks entrusted to the 7 customer service centers spread across the Emirate of Dubai.

The presentation also touched on the role of the RTA Call Center in communicating with the external customers by responding to their calls, complaints or inquiries. The delegation was also briefed on the integrated Customer Relations Management “CRM” system applied by Dep’t in handling complaints, lost & found items, complaint reports, inquiries, and suggestions, among others.

Mahboob highlighted various communication channels through which all external suggestions are channelled, including customer service centers, Call Center via the toll free number 8009090, RTA’s social communication networks; be it Facebook, Twitter, or RTA’s website www.rta.ae. He stated that the distinguished suggestions that had the potential of contributing to improving RTA services & programmes would be taken into account, and the initiator would be contacted within 20 days maximum to respond to the idea submitted.

In a related context, the Director of Customer Service commented on the annual programme held to honour customers who communicate positive ideas to the RTA, adding that the RTA had a host of diverse methods in place that encourage external customers to submit suggestions including various awareness campaigns and prestigious prizes allocated to them.

As regards rewarding RTA employees and motivating them, Mahboob said, “By presenting different monthly topics, the RTA’s Suggestions Committee encourages employees to submit positive ideas befitting the idea in question, and rewards them on monthly basis.” More info

The Roads and Transport Authority – Nashwan Atta’ee: Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, Board Member and Chairperson of Customers Council at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) reiterated RTA’s standing commitment to deliver best-in-class services to customers hailing from all community segments under the ongoing endeavours to diversify the delivery channels of all services including the toll gates fees (Salik).

Al Mulla made this statement in a gathering held lately in RTA Head Office in the presence of Ahmed Hassan Mahboob, Deputy Chairperson of Customers Council and Director of Customers Service; and Mohammed Al Awadi, Director of Intelligent Transportation Systems at the Traffic & Roads Agency; which has a designated Section for operating Salik system, in addition to several community members who attended to express views, ideas, suggestions as well as complaints.

“The RTA is always keen on broadening the scope of service offered to all spectrums of the community, including Salik services, through providing the essential infrastructure & facilities as well as the advanced technologies that comprise top ups, buying of tags, payment of fines, handling of complaints & observations, and all processes that can help facilitate the use of this vital service,” stated Al Mulla.

The meeting also discussed a number of issues and questions that Salik users face daily and how to upgrade and optimize the use of this service.

Al Mullah heeded to a number of suggestions and ideas put forward by attendants and promised that the RTA would study them, and overcome the difficulties & hitches that might crop up during the use of service to ensure a smooth flow of service delivery. More info