UMM AL QUWAIN // When they started waking up in the middle of the night, gasping for breath or because their children were complaining of burning lungs, residents of a UAQ housing complex decided that after three years they had had enough.
Shortly after moving into her luxury townhouse in Emaar-built Minstrel Villas, Gabriella began noticing the smell of sulfur in the air starting at sundown and, at times, lasting until sunrise.
“It’s so bad, I’ve woken up from my sleep in the dead of night to throw up,” she said. “You can’t go back to sleep, the doors are shut, the house is completely shut off but it still gets in. You can’t get anything done.”
Thinking it was a faulty air-conditioning system, Gabriella began talking to other members of the community and soon realised she was not the only one who could smell the problem.
The fumes were coming from a used oil recycling plant owned by Oil Tech, approximately 10 kilometres away from Minstrel Villas.
“I went to them personally and told them about the smell,” said T G, who moved into his home three years ago. “They basically said that we’ve been here before you and this is normal. The fumes are so bad, I had a tenant walk out of my house, get a big whiff of it and the next day they ended up in the hospital with pneumonia,” the American said.
For the past three years, the factory has been exuding fumes due to outdated machinery.
“They were ordered to shut down because of the smell on October 24,” said Muaz Hamza, an environmental inspector with the UAQ municipality. “And they won’t be allowed to open until they take care of that problem.
“They are bringing a company to do the cleaning, then they will be allowed to continue operation. We had the residents start complaining in March of 2014. It took us the summer to investigate and once we were done we decided to shut them down until further notice according to the law that protects the residents.”
R A, who lives in a labour camp close enough to hear the machinery running in the factory, said: “It has gotten better, but it still smells. We used to wake up almost every night because of it.”
The municipality blamed the odor on evaporating chemicals and byproducts remaining in the factory’s piping and storage containers during operation.
Oil Tech refused to comment on the case.
“We didn’t know about the smell until three days after we moved in,” said C P, who bought a home in the development last year. “It’s just so much sometimes. I have two babies and it burns them, runny nose and runny eyes.”
Residents said the smell is dependent on wind direction and weather, but that it is only ever present at night.
“We didn’t know about the smell, it’s a lovely place and we bought it not thinking anything,” said another resident. “How could we have known? You don’t tend to view properties at night.”
Residents said that they have gone to the Ministry of Civil Defence, Ministry of Environment, the municipality and the fire department, but to no avail.
Now they must hope the municipality shutdown improves the air quality.
“It’s a shame because this is such a beautiful place, and for families you want to enjoy yourself outdoors especially when the weather is nice,” C P said. “But we just can’t.”
Muaz Hamza, Environmental Inspector at the Umm Al Quwain Municipality, said: “We’ve stopped the factory and they have stopped their operation, but then there is the ongoing case of residual chemicals exhuming fumes.
“They’ve brought in a company to clean up the mess and they will not start operations again until their factory is up to standards.”
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Total eligible population
About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not
Where are the unvaccinated?
England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14%
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
Based: New York, New York
Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
