ABU DHABI // A digital mapping tool could help surveyors redraw the "fuzzy boundaries" separating the emirate's Al Gharbia, Al Ain and Abu Dhabi areas, the Department of Municipal Affairs said yesterday.
Abdullah Ghareeb, the department's executive director of property management, said geographic information system (GIS) technology could assist surveyors in a proposed demarcation project. The project still requires the final approval of the Executive Council.
"As part of our mandate, we wanted to draw these lines," Mr Ghareeb said. "This project for demarcation is about putting some physical monuments in the ground so people will know the borders. This is important for some political points and if you need to distinguish between urban and farm areas."
The official was speaking at an exhibition of the technology, which combines government records with virtual mapping software, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
Users can log on to a website to view satellite images and zoom in on locations. The system also provides details about places being viewed.
In a demonstration, a GIS technician working for the department showed how the system could zoom in on a satellite image of a school, list its plot number, the number of floors in the building and the locations of individual trees and light poles.
In some cases, it could even tell users how many boys compared to girls there are in a school.
"Pretty much every government in the world uses GIS or will use it," said Justin Fail, the GIS section head for Al Gharbia municipality.
"If I need to send somebody out to service their water valves, I can find out: 'How do I get there? What's the fastest route? Which valve do I need to switch off in case that pipe breaks?' It's all shown there on my screen."
Mr Ghareeb said the department was working to gather data from the emirate's three municipalities under one GIS system.
mkwong@thenational.ae
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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.
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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.
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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
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