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His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has instructed the relevant authorities in the emirate to promptly initiate the assessment of damages caused by recent weather conditions.

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah instructed the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to revert the valley streams in Fujairah to their original courses. This decision comes after altering their paths towards Kalba resulted in significant rainwater accumulations in residential areas in the city.

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah further instructed the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to reopen the valley drains in Fujairah, which were previously filled in resulting in significant rainwater accumulations in residential neighbourhoods within Kalba.

The directive entails the Sharjah Police General Command, the Sharjah Civil Defence Authority, and other entities to collaborate with the Social Services Department and municipalities and all competent authorities providing logistical support in operations to address the weather impacts to assess damages and expedite support provision for affected residents in the emirate.

His Highness commended the efforts of field teams, including government and military personnel, as well as citizens and residents volunteers, for their dedication and great efforts in managing the weather impact and ensuring the safety of all individuals while hastening the restoration of normalcy across the emirate.

Source: Al-Bayan newspaper

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Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, and the follow up of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management, field teams from various government entities in the emirate continue to work around the clock to ensure the full restoration of services and smooth traffic flow on roads, following the recent extreme weather conditions experienced by the city.

The Roads and Transport Authority and Dubai Municipality have taken swift measures to minimise disruptions across the city, including draining waterlogged areas, conducting cleaning operations, rerouting traffic to ensure smooth flows, and restoring public transport. 

The RTA confirmed that a proactive comprehensive plan enabled the swift restoration of operations on the city’s main streets and the full resumption of Dubai Metro services by the second day, all while ensuring the security and safety of the community.

 His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Commissioner General of Infrastructure, Urban Planning and Wellbeing Pillar, and Director General of RTA, said that the authority has proactively developed an integrated plan to address potential weather-related disruptions. This comprehensive strategy prioritises the safety of road and public transport users, ensures sustainable service provision, facilitates swift management of water accumulations, and seeks to quickly restore traffic on main streets, as well as normal operations of the Dubai Metro and public buses.

“The authority deployed its emergency and crisis management team, which operated out of the unified command centre. A joint control room was also activated to address rainwater accumulation, operated by representatives of Dubai Police, Dubai Municipality, and real estate developers. The Roads and Transport Authority, in cooperation with Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, and Dubai Civil Defense, managed rainwater pools to ensure the safety of residents and road users. Over 2,500 response personnel, including engineers, technicians, workers, contractors, and suppliers, contributed to the response effort. Additionally, more than 400 pumps, 300 tanks, and over 200 heavy equipment units, including trucks and bulldozers, were deployed,” Al Tayer said.

In the initial phase, the field teams concentrated on quickly restoring the Dubai Metro service to normal, while ensuring the security and safety of passengers and assets, he added. “The metro, being the backbone of resident movement in the emirate, saw stations reopening gradually, with all stations operational by the second day of the weather event. Efforts also included addressing rainwater accumulations on various streets, particularly focusing on major arteries such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road, and Airport Road. Water was removed from various streets in a record time, allowing traffic to return to normal,” Al Tayer said.

His Excellency Dawoud Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality, highlighted the ongoing efforts of field emergency teams at Dubai Municipality in addressing the aftermath of Dubai’s unprecedented weather conditions. “Our teams have been operating non-stop, executing comprehensive strategies across all areas and coordinating closely with our strategic partners,” he said. These efforts aim to manage the repercussions of the intense rainstorm, which has led to rainwater accumulation, drainage blockages, and increased waste, necessitating extensive cleaning and swift, effective solutions to maintain the highest levels of safety and public health for all residents of the emirate.

Al Hajri added: “From the onset of these conditions, Dubai Municipality mobilised every available resource, with our highly skilled teams and advanced equipment ready to handle emergencies efficiently.” He noted that the recent severe rains, historically peaking at over 220 mm in less than 24 hours, required more time to drain and channel the water through sewage and rainwater drainage networks. “Our response to these tropical conditions has been marked by prompt action, ensuring minimal disruption and maximum safety,” he said.

In response to the situation, Dubai Municipality mobilised over 2,425 engineers, technicians, and workers. Operating around the clock and covering all regions, these teams are equipped to swiftly address emergencies resulting from impact of rains, including water accumulation, clogged drains, and fallen trees. Their primary focus is to ensure the safety of all community members in Dubai and protect their lives and property.

Dubai Municipality’s emergency field teams include 160 supervisory and leadership personnel, 125 emergency communication coordinators, and 735 staff members, engineers, and technical observers from various disciplines overseeing 1,248 workers and drivers, along with 161 rescuers. These field emergency teams are equipped with extensive logistical support, including 146 heavy vehicles, 141 water pumps, 130 tanks, and 85 machines and light vehicles, to efficiently handle unexpected rainy conditions.

Since the onset of adverse weather conditions, the Municipality has maintained direct coordination with other government entities, ensuring swift response systems and facilitating timely decision-making processes. It has developed various plans to ensure the readiness of all emergency teams to address weather fluctuations around the clock.

 

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The UAE National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a weather forecast from Friday 19 April until Tuesday 23 April 2024.

WEATHER: Humid by morning over some coastal and internal areas with a probability of fog or mist formation – Fair to partly cloudy at times Eastward by afternoon.

WIND: Light to moderate Northeasterly to Southeasterly wind, with a speed of 10 – 20 reaching 30 Km/hr.

SEA: Slight in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

WEATHER: Humid by morning over some coastal and internal areas with a probability of fog or mist formation – Fair to partly cloudy at times with a probability of some convective cloud formation over mountains by afternoon, might be associated with rainfall.

WIND: Light to moderate Northeasterly to Southeasterly wind, freshening at times with a speed of 10 – 20 reaching 35 Km/hr.

SEA: Slight in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

WEATHER: Humid by morning over some coastal and internal areas with a probability of fog or mist formation – Fair to partly cloudy at times.

WIND: Light to moderate Northeasterly to Southeasterly wind, with a speed of 10 – 20 reaching 30 Km/hr.

SEA: Slight in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

WEATHER: Humid by morning over some coastal and internal areas – Fair to partly cloudy in general, becoming cloudy Westward with a probability of light rainfall by late night – with an increase in temperatures.

WIND: Light to moderate Northeasterly to Southeasterly wind, freshening at times with a speed of 10 – 25 reaching 35 Km/hr.

SEA: Slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and slight in Oman Sea.

WEATHER: Partly cloudy in general and cloudy at times with a chance of light to moderate rainfall, might be heavy at times over some areas – decrease in temperatures over some coastal areas.

WIND: Light to moderate Northeasterly to Southeasterly wind, becoming Northwesterly freshening at times causing blowing dust with a speed of 15 – 25 reaching 40 Km/hr.

SEA: Slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and slight in Oman Sea.

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 The remote work system in the United Arab Emirates has become a safety valve contributing to the preservation of the safety of society members and enabling them to perform their daily tasks and duties with ease and convenience.

Due to the weather conditions witnessed by the country, the UAE has implemented the remote work system for the third consecutive day on a wide scale, with great efficiency and success in maintaining business continuity and services at the highest level.

At the same time, remote learning has contributed to achieving sustainability in the educational process in all state schools and continuity in implementing curriculum plans to the fullest extent. The UAE has succeeded in building a flexible and future-oriented remote work system, becoming a global example in efficiency, effectiveness, and high readiness for any circumstances or changes.

Three main reasons stand behind the success of the remote work experience in the UAE, including legislative flexibility, the use of modern technology in performance monitoring and productivity, and the readiness of integrated digital infrastructure and the availability of smart electronic government services that help maintain communication continuity and service delivery.

Legislation and regulations

The UAE has prepared itself early on for the changes that the world may witness in terms of work methods and systems, whether remote or in-person, or concerning workdays and methods. To achieve this, it has equipped itself with the strongest and most effective digital systems to remain at the forefront of countries in this field. The UAE began implementing the remote work system in the federal government sector since 2017, initially through its trial application in some federal entities, and managed to measure its impact on productivity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cabinet Decision No. (27) of 2020 was issued regarding the remote work system in the federal government, under which remote work is also applied by federal entities under normal circumstances. In 2021, the UAE introduced the first-of-its-kind virtual work residency visa in the region, allowing foreigners to enter the country under their personal sponsorship and stay for one year to practice their virtual job, subject to conditions and regulations issued with the visa.

Monitor performance and productivity

The Guide of Remote Working System in the Federal Government, issued by the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, emphasises the need to monitor the implementation of remote work and document achievements by measuring the productivity of employees working remotely. This involves ensuring the quality and accuracy of outputs, setting time-frames for service delivery, task execution, and project delivery, and adhering to governance standards and cybersecurity controls when using various technological means to implement the remote work system, as well as any other controls deemed appropriate by the employer in this regard.

The performance of employees working remotely is evaluated based on several criteria, including productivity, which is determined by the number of completed tasks out of the total targeted tasks and the quality of outputs in terms of accuracy in delivery and adherence to task completion within the specified time-frame. Additionally, the satisfaction rate of the direct supervisor and stakeholders with the completed work outputs is assessed based on agreed-upon criteria.

Advanced digital infrastructure

The government of the United Arab Emirates has launched the UAE Government Services Strategy, the Unified Digital Platform Policy, and the Digital User and Government Service Policy as part of its efforts to provide advanced digital services around the clock and anywhere.

The UAE government offers more than 6,000 federal and local online services across various sectors and areas related to daily life for community members.

According to the “Digital UAE – Facts and Figures 2023” report by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, the internet user ratio in the country reached 99% of the population, enabling a high level of digital solution usage, whether in daily life or in government services.

The report highlights the performance of the official portal of the Government of the United Arab Emirates (U.ae) as the main reference for all information and services provided by all government entities. The portal is linked to 221 government entities offering 2,630 digital services, with the number of portal visitors reaching 19 million visitors during the year 2022.

It is worth mentioning that the United Arab Emirates ranked first regionally and fourth globally among the leading destinations for remote work attracting “digital nomads,” according to the classification of the “Visa Guide” website, which specialises in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of visa systems supporting remote work patterns and the level of progress in providing a nurturing, enabling, and attractive environment for talents and minds in the digital field.

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The National Center of Meteorology expects the weather to be generally clear tomorrow, with partial cloudiness at times. Clouds are expected to appear to the east in the afternoon, becoming humid at night and Saturday morning with a chance of fog or light fog in some coastal and inland areas. Winds will be light to moderate.

Winds: Southeast to northeast / 10 to 20 km/h reaching up to 30 km/h.

Arabian Gulf: Light waves, with the first tide occurring at 09:16, the second tide at 23:56, the first islands at 16:44, and the second islands at 05:38.

Oman Sea: Light waves, with the first tide occurring at 19:41, the second tide at 07:51, the first islands at 13:17, and the second islands at 02:06.

Below are the expected maximum and minimum temperatures and humidity levels for tomorrow:

City / Maximum Temperature / Minimum Temperature / Maximum Humidity / Minimum Humidity

Abu Dhabi 33 20 85 25

Dubai 33 19 85 25

Sharjah 31 19 85 25

Ajman 28 20 85 40

Umm Al Quwain 29 19 85 30

Ras Al Khaimah 32 19 85 30

Fujairah 33 23 70 25

Al Ain 31 18 80 20

Liwa 36 20 85 15

Al Ruwais 35 20 85 25

Al Sila 36 20 80 10

Dalma 31 23 85 30

Tunb Al Kubra / Small 30 22 85 45

Abu Musa 30 22 85 45.

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His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, has directed heads of Dubai Government entities to develop a comprehensive proactive plan to further enhance Dubai’s preparedness for dealing with unexpected weather conditions.

The directive came during a meeting His Highness held with heads of Dubai Government entities. The meeting was attended by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE; and His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management. During the meeting, His Highness reviewed the rapid progress achieved in restoring normalcy across Dubai following the severe weather conditions.

His Highness stated that the challenges Dubai encountered in recent days provide an opportunity for the emirate to enhance its emergency response systems and create a new mechanism backed by proactive plans to manage various scenarios. Sheikh Hamdan said he is closely monitoring the situation along with government entities to address the challenges that emergency response teams faced following the extreme weather.

His Highness further said that Dubai, guided by the visionary leadership of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, seeks to continuously learn from past experiences and develop proactive plans to deal with all challenges. Adverse weather conditions have offered an opportunity for further improvement in the emirate’s crisis readiness plans, he added. The safety of every citizen, resident and visitor continues to be the Dubai Government’s highest priority.

The meeting was attended by His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, and Director General of the Office of the Crown Prince of Dubai; His Excellency Abdullah Mohammed Al Basti, Secretary General of The Executive Council of Dubai; His Excellency Major General Talal Humaid Belhoul, Director General of Dubai State Security; His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Commissioner General for Infrastructure, Urban Planning and Well-Being Pillar, and Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA); His Excellency Dawood Al Hajri, Director General of Dubai Municipality; His Excellency Lieutenant General Expert Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, Director General of Dubai Civil Defense; and Her Excellency Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office.

During the meeting, His Highness was also briefed about the efforts of government entities to ensure the seamless delivery of services to members of the community.

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The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai has announced the return of taxi and public bus services to their previous status, with efforts underway to overcome any obstacles, acknowledging Dubai residents’ resilience in the face of the recent weather conditions experienced by the emirate.

The authority has confirmed the resumption of work as usual at vehicle inspection centers and customer happiness centers, expressing gratitude to its customers for their cooperation and understanding of the situations arising from the weather conditions experienced by the Emirate of Dubai.

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His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Dubai, has directed officials in Dubai’s government entities to develop a comprehensive proactive plan to confront emergency weather conditions.According to Al-Bayan newspaper

His Highness stated today via his official account on “Twitter”: “Today, we have directed officials in Dubai’s government entities to develop a comprehensive proactive plan to confront emergency weather conditions.”

He added: “During a meeting with a number of officials responsible for dealing with the recent weather situation we witnessed in the past few days, I followed up on the progress of work and efforts made by various entities during this exceptional circumstance.”

His Highness continued: “We are confident in Dubai’s ability to benefit from this experience, and the safety of every citizen, resident, and visitor remains our top priority. May God protect you and protect Dubai and our dear country.”

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