ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council is to spend Dh15.8 billion on developments including new homes, roads, a hospital and a sewerage plant.
Dh3.1bn in housing loans will be offered to 1,554 citizens in Abu Dhabi, the Eastern Region and Al Gharbia under a spending plan approved by the council on Wednesday.
The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Dr Amal Al Qubaisi, a member of the Federal National Council, applauded the announcements.
“This initiative provides the society and people of the UAE and Abu Dhabi with stability,” said Dr Al Qubaisi.
“This is done through giving them the right housing and building a society that is provided with all means of good living, while emphasising more stability to expanding families.”
The new housing will cover 689 beneficiaries in Abu Dhabi, 756 in the Eastern Region and 109 in the Western Region.
Dh4.3bn was also approved to fund a new hospital in Al Ain.
Commissioned to the Abu Dhabi Health Company, or Seha, the hospital will offer world-class integrated medical services.
It will help to meet the needs of the growing population in Al Ain and the rest of the emirate.
The hospital will include 719 beds in surgery, paediatrics, maternity, intensive care and medical rehabilitation as well as VIP patients and royal suites.
It will also consist of 104 advanced specialist clinics, 17 units for radiology, CT scan and MRI, and 22 units for endoscopy diagnosis.
A Dh132 million sewage treatment plant has been planned for Al Ruwais in the Western Region.
The plant, assigned to the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, aims to meet demand from ongoing expansion in the area’s industrial zones.
“There is a real need to build a new wastewater treatment plant for the national water resources and for health issues too,” said Dr Walid Elshorbagy, director of water resources at UAE University.
“Treating water is important for health and the environment, so there is always a need for these kinds of plans to be able to have an alternative plan for water resources.”
The project will include a wastewater reclamation plant with a capacity of 15,000 cubic metres a day.
A receiving station with the capacity of 16 tanks and a 10-kilometre pipeline to move treated water to the forest reservoirs in Al Ghayathi is another planned development.
“It’s a good investment, especially in Al Ruwais,” said Dr Muftah El Naas, a professor in chemical engineering at UAEU.
“You can protect the environment while saving and reusing this water for irrigation or any other industry.”
The plant will include a system to monitor and treat bad odours.
Other projects include Dh2.5bn to implement stages one, three and four of Al Mafraq-Al Ghuwaifat road.
Fifteen upper intersections and electricity posts on the 248km-road will be set up to reduce traffic accidents and travel time to the Western Region or Saudi Arabia.
The 62km Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway from Saih Sheib to Sweihan Road will have high-voltage cables that intersect with the road removed.
More lights will be added and the new road will connect Khalifa Port with the industrial zone and Al Falah.
Finally, Dh810m will be invested in a project to install and modify air cables used to link the newly established power stations with others in the area, as the city seeks to meet greater electricity demand.
“On behalf of the people of Abu Dhabi, as citizens, we feel so much gratitude that our leadership is always keen on the human side of providing more stability to citizens,” said Dr Al Qubaisi.
“Whether it’s through housing, education or health, it is very generous to provide them with all these means before they even ask for it.”
cmalek@thenational.ae
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
