I write in reference to your news article Fees delayed in beach, gym and pool dispute (January 2).
Once the property is developed and the owners have been delivered their assets, the role of the builder or developer or contractor should be finished. This is the international practice.
But in the UAE, exploitation continues. Development companies are aware that maintenance charges are easy money; by hook or crook they want to have a piece of the pie. Owners' associations must and should have the final say on all matters related to maintaining properties once the project is finished.
KB Vijayakumar, Dubai
Time to reform the real estate market
There is little chance investors looking for long-term returns will return to the UAE property market (Dubai property must kiss and make up with investors, January 2).
It has been clearly demonstrated that it is those holding the parcel when the music stops that will be hung out to dry no matter what type of investor they were.
I should be reaping my reward for investing $200,000 (Dh734,000) in a 20-year-lease on a development in Ras Al Khaimah. Instead I have lost everything.
The UAE will, going forward, remain a speculators market until reforms are implemented.
AW, Ras Al Khaimah
Missing a point on Nigerian politics
With reference to your editorial Sectarianism is an excuse in Nigeria (January 2), I would like to clarify a misconception.
The arrangement The National alluded to as being the basis of allocating political appointment or position in Nigeria is totally erroneous and false. This purported arrangement - called zoning - in Nigeria is a policy adapted by the ruling political party and has no constitutional basis.
Furthermore it is not enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is a policy adapted by an independent political organisation.
For the record, Nigeria does not and never has practised "confessionalism" as a political system.
Bamidele Sonubi, Bahrain
UAE has unique education needs
Your editorial ... as the UAE has its own path to travel (January 1) is instructive but misses a few key points. Quality education requires results-based solutions. The UAE has paid and continues to pay millions of dirhams to education experts in high schools, colleges and universities, all of whom tout educational models from abroad, be it Norway or New Zealand.
There are two problems with this approach.
First, the UAE's needs are not the same as other countries. Given this, ideas and methods need to be tailored to the UAE, or better still, the UAE must stop listening to and following the advice of those who are more interested in managing the current situation than solving the problem (which may require them to work themselves out of a job).
And second, solutions might never emerge from outside consultants exclusively. Domestic expertise is key. The young people of the UAE deserve better.
Tom Pattillo, Canada
Celebrations were fun, but chaotic
Coldplay was fantastic. Event organisation, however, was not (Happy New Year: a country parties, January 1).
After queueing with pre-purchased tickets for nearly two hours, we were not impressed to be pushed aside by new arrivals as we reached the entry gate.
Nonetheless, thanks Chris Martin and band for a memorable sound and light show. It was a fantastic start to 2012.
Anne Insole, Abu Dhabi
Looking forward to a banner year
What the UAE has achieved over the past 15 to 20 years is nothing short of remarkable. With 2012 now here, we can only expect more.
I recall watching TV in amazement as documentaries recorded the construction of the Burj Al Arab, The World and Palm Island - these were projects with a "wow" factor attached to them.
But it is not only projects spun by wealth that has made the UAE the envy of others. That boils down to two essential success ingredients: vision and ability.
A country's success is guided by its vision. The vision speaks to a long term objective - economic diversification, sustainability, political stability and fair distribution of wealth.
But vision can't be realised without the ability to execute it. And through companies like Nakheel and others, the UAE is delivering on its vision. What will 2012 bring?
Randall Mohammed, Dubai
