DUBAI // Inspectors will examine the accuracy of scales at hundreds of jewellery shops in Dubai to ensure that customers are getting their money's worth, officials said.
Five inspectors or legal verifiers from Dubai Municipality will monitor weighing instruments from next month to establish whether they meet the authority's standards. It is estimated that there are over 10,000 weighing instruments in almost 1,000 gold and jewellery stores, mostly in the gold souq in Deira.
"It is good for the customer to be safeguarded," said Fareed Mohammed, the head of metrology at the municipality's Dubai Central Laboratory. "Mostly, balances are as per the requirement. But we want to see what is available and what are the shortcomings. Our aim is to make sure customers are protected."
The inspections follow an agreement between the Dubai Central Laboratory and the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology last year.
The verifiers will spend nearly 30 minutes examining each scale, depending on its age.
"The trader will be given certificates and there will be stickers on the balances, certifying verified or failed," Mr Mohammed said.
A failed certification would mean that a shop would have to fix or replace machines. Erring traders could be warned and even fined, Mr Mohammed said.
"We estimate that by the end of the year we will finish weighing all the machines in the gold souq," he said.
Gold traders welcomed the inspections.
"It is good that the municipality will check and certify them," said Vinod Kumar, a showroom manager of Joy Alukkas' Bur Dubai branch. "Customers will feel convinced," he said, though his showroom already gets its five balances calibrated every six months. Each of the instruments can measure jewellery ranging between 10 grams and three kilograms.
"Getting a DM certification will definitely ensure customer satisfaction and it will assure them to purchase gold without any hesitation," said Joshy Michael, marketing manager of Malabar Gold. He said that his company assessed its instruments every two months.
"We have our own facility for calibrating the machines," he noted.
The municipality said that inspecting jewellery shops was only a first step.
"We will soon start verifying all weighing machines in supermarkets, perfume shops, fuel stations and everything else," Mr Mohammed said.
pkannan@thenational.ae
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
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.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
