ABU DHABI // A new fleet of taxis being rolled out in the capital, designed for passengers with disabilities, have not yet been fitted with the ramps or lifts needed for wheelchair users.
When the new fleet was unveiled on February 18, Abu Dhabi's taxi regulator Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars (TransAD) said all 270 taxis could accommodate disabled customers.
Taxi passengers with disabilities may have to wait for up to two months before they can make use of the Mercedes Vito Compact vans.
One hundred and ten vans are currently in service, with the rest to be rolled out in batches by the end of the month.
On Wednesday, a TransAD official said some Vito Compact vans were already equipped with the special ramps, but would not confirm how many exactly.
TransAD expects the whole fleet to be wheelchair-accessible within one to two months’ time, he said.
Ali Yousef, franchise taxi manager at Al Ghazal Transport, said they had 38 of the vehicles in service, but none were yet fitted with ramps.
When announced this year, TransAD officials said the new taxis would be wheelchair-accessible, using ramps and fitted with locks to secure the wheelchair in place.
They can carry five passengers and are equipped with safety features and come with soundproof privacy glass. The vans have an intercom system for easy communication between the passenger and driver.
For disabled passengers, the fact that the new fleet was still not ready to be used was disappointing.
“When the story came out I was excited that there will be more taxis but then I found out I can’t use them,” said Scott Sankey, a 36-year-old Canadian expatriate who relies on taxis to get around the city after a motorbike accident when he was a teenager left him paralysed and wheelchair-bound.
“The new vans that were recently added to the fleet do not have the lift and locks for the wheelchair to be loaded in the back,” he said.
So far there are only eight wheelchair-friendly taxis in the emirate: four in the city, one in Al Mafraq Hospital, one in Al Ain, and a further two at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Launched in June 2013, the Mercedes-Benz Vito vehicles, which cost Dh130,000 each, are equipped with a wheelchair lift, secure wheelchair fastenings and a high roof, which Mr Sankey said he found useful.
Shohel Rana, a Bangladeshi who drives one of the taxis for National Taxi, said they had been trained to assist wheelchair users in and out of the vehicles.
“I usually get four to six passengers a day,” he said.
“The problem is they travel for short distances, for a Dh10 fare.”
The flag-fall for the taxi is Dh3.50, but TransAD issues electronic discount cards which offer Emiratis with disabilities a 50 per cent discount on the standard taxi fare.
“If they don’t create more vans that have the lift for wheelchairs then it won’t really help,” Mr Sankey said.
“Adding more vans is not going to help the situation.”
rruiz@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
Results
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Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Our Time Has Come
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