Cutting food waste is a national priority for the UAE

Our readers have their say on tackling food waste, Sudan's future, the non-payment of wages and the wish for a robot to help around the house

Vertical image of food including chicken tikka at Al Ibrahami Restaurant in Abu Dhabi. Rob McKenzie for The National
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Sudan's troubles are far from over

With reference to the report Sudan could send ousted president Omar Al Bashir to The Hague (February 18): even though justice is being served by trying Bashir possibly at The Hague for the atrocities he has committed and for the long list of war crimes, Sudan's problems have not been fully solved. They need a good, committed administration for the development of the country and people. Only then will the country change.

K Ragavan, Benguluru

Wage underpayment is not acceptable anywhere in the world

With reference to Alice Haine's The Debt Panel: 'I'm being chased for a Dh7,000 credit card bill I can't afford to pay' (February 18): while the Abu Dhabi resident's employer has not paid him for eight months, here in Australia and almost certainly in most countries, there have been stories of wage underpayment in mainly the food and hospitality industries.

A restaurant group underpaid their staff by $8 million dollars in total and today a supermarket chain admitted an underpayment of $20m. Both have or will backpay the lost earnings.

There are many reasons underpayments could happen and yet there is no equivalent massive overpayments, although people may be slower to report any such cases.

People deserve to be paid for their work and paid fully including for overtime. It has been suggested that this "theft" would be a criminal offence and jailable.

Next time you go to a restaurant, check that the smiling people serving you are being fully paid and if there is any doubt, suggest to the owner that you are only going to pay part of the cost. Eat well, pay well.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne

A robot at a restaurant is fine but can I have one around the house?

With reference to Hikmat Noori's report Meet Timea, the robot waitress taking Kabul by storm (February 17): this is all awesome but after AI takes over, I just wonder what jobs are people going to be doing. Tanya Milbourne, Dubai

This is so impressive. I need this badly – not at a restaurant as much as to help me around the home.

Sajida Wali, Lahore

With regard to Anam Rizvi's report UAE working to cut food waste by half by 2030, says minister (February 18): a programme to turn compost into biofuel could be something to consider to tackle the problem of food waste.

Saif Omar Al Suwaidi, Abu Dhabi