I enjoyed Ali Khaled's piece Radio stations torture us with an endless 1980s soundtrack (October 12)
But, quiet frankly, Mr Khaled was very friendly with his remarks. The radio stations here are controlled and directed by people who are so out of touch with the music that is being played, courted and discovered from around the world.
The various nationalities that coexist have been tortured by those with a village mentality. There is a need for new sounds and new artists (even if it's from the 90s) from around the world and not only from the US and England. It's very easy to follow the format and chart system. It's very easy to present without any knowledge of the artist, the history and origin of a music genre.
What we want is a little more diversity. Give us a rock, jazz and a proper dance station that does not repeat the same tunes 20 times a day.
The UAE has the most diverse set of people from around the world but our stations are directed by people with small minds, who are self absorbed and with small town perceptions.
Turkey and South Africa alone will put the radio stations to shame with a few more diverse stations and an amazing music selection that is not stuck in the "I have heard it all before 1900s".
Leon Stevens, Dubai
Swimming pools neglect hygiene
I am delighted finally to see this issue has come to the light (Swimming pools shut down over health fears, October 12).
I used to go with a friend to a sports club in Abu Dhabi to use the gym and the swimming pool. I luckily didn't experience any health problem but my friend's feet began to itch for no apparent reason shortly after we came back from the gym.
He then had very bad blisters. I can't remember the medical diagnosis but they were not regular blisters. They got much worse and he had that problem for more than a month. We both stopped going to the pool.
It was surprising to learn that a gym where families and kids go every Friday is this dirty. Security or pool guards must not allow any visitor to get into the pool without showering first.
Pools usually put notes for visitors telling them to have a shower before they use the pool. But that is not enforced. There is a general shortage of pools, while there is a huge demand for them. For the available ones, they at least must be clean.
Abduljabbar Saleh, Abu Dhabi
Inspections key to prevent fires
This is with reference to your article Large fire breaks out at Dubai chemical factory (October 12). The incident took place in a food and chemicals factory in the Dubai Investment Park area. The losses have not been assessed yet and it was good the authorities managed to control the fire.
Fire accidents used to be common in the industrial area of Sharjah because of poor house keeping and non-compliance with fire safety regulations.
Authorities began to inspect the area and the incidents were reduced significantly. But in spite of the safety measures taken by the authorities, this incident happened.
Authorities should have regular inspections to avert such incidents in the future.
K Ragavan, India
Need for variety in sports coverage
I think The National has unbalanced sports coverage. In this country, the follower of baseball, US football, basketball and hockey is all but abandoned by your sports department even at the most basic level.
Simply put, a reasonably good newspaper is marred by such a weak sports coverage that neglects North American sport to the detriment of many of its readers.
Take yesterday (or any other day for example) where the sole offering is on page 18 (baseball). You need to do better - much better.
D H, Dubai
Telecoms must avoid gluttony
I refer to the article Video calls coming in the UAE, at a price (October 10). I'd prefer Etisalat and Du to concentrate more on improving their network coverage and reliability to facilitate the usage of smartphones.
Implementing operator billing for apps would help home grown entrepreneurial developers. It seems rather unfair to ban VOIP on one hand and then bring out their own app to do exactly that.
What is the take of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) on this? Shouldn't they have the growth of the industry, improved competitiveness of industries and customer satisfaction in mind?
They want to charge users to use ePlus and then also charge for data usage. There's no such thing as a free lunch, but some might consider Etisalat and Du are verging on gluttony.
Name withheld by request
