Your mangroves or your life?

• Last Updated: November 24. 2009 8:29PM UAE / November 24. 2009 4:29PM GMT

I refer to Peter Hellyer’s opinion piece What is this road if ... we have no place to stand and stare? (November 24) which lamented the height of the Sheikh Khalifa highway barriers which cut off the view of the mangrove scenery.

US Department of Transport research says a highway barrier with a height of 32 inches is needed, with 42 inches for larger vehicles. The new E12 Sheikh Khalifa motorway was built with concrete barriers in line with these standards at areas with vertical drops, so as to contain errant vehicles and protect them falling – and the occupants from almost certain death.

But obviously others agree with Peter Hellyer that a view of the mangroves is more important than safety, as these barriers are currently being cut in half, meaning that the safety of this road has been severely compromised.

Proving the point, the still intact sections already show marks from collisions where the barriers did their job. Those people involved should consider themselves lucky. With nothing to stop them, they would have careered off the wall to a certain sticky end.

This is seriously compromising safety for a view of the mangroves. Yes, the view is now open, but at 120kph, the driver should be watching the road, not the scenery. Want to get a good view of the mangroves? Take a bus.

Ford Desmoineaux, Abu Dhabi

Simple pleasures of newspapers

With reference to Rupert Wright’s opinion article Read all about it! Newspapers are not dead just yet (November 20), I agree with him wholeheartedly. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, quite like sitting down and relaxing to read the paper. Sitting at a computer just doesn’t cut it. There’s no leaning back in the chair with your feet up or lounging “just right” in the lounge chair with legs thrown over the arms, a cup of tea at the side. There’s something about holding the paper in your hands, perusing the headlines and adverts, taking the time to read the little blurbs.

The internet is good for finding out what’s going on in the world right now and for checking in to make sure there hasn’t been any major catastrophe while you were sleeping. Really reading a newspaper could take days and is one of those simple pleasures of life.

Heather Wakelin, Abu Dhabi

A lack of connections blocks ambition

With reference to Mohammed Kazim’s opinion article How young Emiratis can put us all on the fast track (November 22), I think the biggest killer to motivation in the workforce is the effect of wasta (clout or personal connections).

In some organisations, mostly government or quasi-government, top ranks are reached through whom you know rather than what you know. Many of us young Emiratis enter the work force with the goals of developing ourselves and gaining the appropriate skill sets that will help us grow in our chosen field. And our country has done its best to nurture future leaders early during our careers with programmes such as the Mohammed Bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development and other leadership programmes, together with high quality recruitment programmes for the public sector that attract the smartest of the UAE nationals.

But many are stymied once they take such job opportunities. In wasta-dominated organisations, developing your skill sets and experience will only take you to a certain level. That is where many individuals (who do not have the benefits of wasta) slowly start giving up on their growth and development plans and become stagnant.

The truth is that the majority of the Emirati work force are employed in wasta-dominated organisations. That is because they are the highest paying jobs in the country with an entry level salary equivalent to that of a manager. In addition, individuals enjoy long holidays as well as short working hours. Sadly,the future growth perspective of many non-wasta Emiratis is killed through highly remunerated, fully secured low-end jobs, with minimal to non-existent growth potential.

Sultan O, Abu Dhabi

Art treasures at Al Noor Library

With reference to the article by Antonia Carver entitled Forgotten Futures (November 20), I find fault with the claim that there are no publications of the leading artists of the Middle East. At Meem Gallery we have pioneered the approach to documenting works by the leading artists from the Middle East, with the support of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation. All the books are written in both Arabic and English by the leading art historians of today.

I am proud to have established the Al Noor Library, based at the Meem Gallery. The library has a collection of rare books, letters, journals, catalogues and magazines devoted to Middle Eastern culture and covering the modern Middle Eastern art movement in detail. The collection holds more than 6,000 titles and is the leading library of its kind in the UAE.

Charles Pocock, Dubai

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