Building Fire Hazards

I went past this building today that was on fire last week (I think it was last week).....





Thankfully, no one was killed.... this time. There are many of these old buildings around the city. They have no sprinkler systems, do not meet any kind fire safety regulations and are a total liability. The people who live in these buildings really do not have any choice, because they will be the only type of building that they could afford to live in. There must be 1000s and 1000s of people who are risking their lives whenever they go home. People have died in similar fires over the years and more will die in the future. This should be a priority for the government. Instead of building more and more office space which they will never attract enough businesses to fill (not just my opinion - comes from numerous sources well connected in the commercial real estate business), they should build some quality housing for the masses of workers in the (mainly) services industries who live like this in the city (construction workers generally live outside the city in workers camps, which thankfully are improving - so I will give the government credit for that).

Windy again

The winds got up dramatically this afternoon from nowhere. Because it is so open where we live the winds howl around the place and the air just fills with sand from the desert -very unpleasant. We also had a few drops of rain again.

As I was driving into the City on Airport Road I passed a building site hoarding that had completely blown over in the wind and was causing a traffic hold up. Sorry about the shaky video clip - and yes, as Caz has pointed out, I am a road hazard when taking video while driving! But I can still drive 100 times better than most out here, even while holding a mobile phone taking video!

Busy day....

Started my day in Abu Dhabi. Went to see a company building some workers cities to house many types of workers, not just construction guys. The first one they are building will house some 44,000 people, but they have plans to build 4 or 5 of them. So they are still expecting an influx of workers into Abu Dhabi. The area is trying to attract a whole range of companies from technology to manufacturing to media and so on. So while on the one hand it seems like things are alive and kicking in Abu Dhabi, I hear reports that up to 1600 people a month are cancelling their visa and going home. Hope yet for the housing crisis in Abu Dhabi?


Next I had to go into the City for a meeting. Airport Road was particularly busy. There were 2 police cars that were trying to get through the jammed traffic. There seems to be a general lack of understanding as to what to do in these circumstances. Loads of drivers just seem to sit in the queue as normal and do nothing. Meanwhile the police car (or could equally be an ambulance) is unable to pass. When the second one came through I had moved over to the left from the middle lane, straddling the lane close to the car next to me. The car in front had done the same. The two dozy drivers behind me, in front of the police car, had done nothing. After a while of nothing, I got so frustrated at the situation that I got out and motioned for the car behind to come behind mine so he could get through, which she did and the one behind followed. The police officer waved at me as he passed. Takes some good old British organisation eh?!


Next, I had to go up to Dubai. The meeting I had was very interesting and the company building was pretty neat. Below are pics of the side room I was taken into from reception. Very plush. And take a look at the video of the air conditioning!

On the way back home I was taking notice of the number of places on the motorway where the barrier was totally smashed in by accidents. One day I think I will count them! Trouble is there are new ones almost every day and the old ones eventually get repaired.

Road deaths are still the number one killer in the UAE.