1. Home
  2. UAE minister thanks expat workers for 'unfailing efforts'

UAE minister thanks expat workers for 'unfailing efforts'

Agencies
April 28, 2019

Abu Dhabi, Apr 28: Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance, has praised the enormous participation of all segments of the society, including institutions, individuals, students, families, local and federal entities Sheikh Nahyan made the remarks while addressing a ceremony organised by the Ministry on Friday to celebrate the International Workers' Day, under the slogan "Together in the Emirates of Zayed" .

The ceremony, which was organised in collaboration with a large number of partners in the Workers' City in Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, witnessed various awareness activities that focused on security, community and health topics.

"Such a significant participation reflects the real image of co-existence in the UAE affirming strength and durability of the community's cohesion and highlighting the tolerance, communication and cooperation that we have all learned from the founding father late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, " Sheikh Nahyan added.

He continued by saying the spontaneous response by all segments of society to participate in the Ministry of Tolerance's celebrations of the International Workers' Day, is a true value that makes the UAE a unique example in the world worth to the capital of the global tolerance.

The Minister has recently launched a number of initiatives, among them Mobile Hospitals Initiative', which will continue offering free medical services to workers through the year at the workers villages nationwide. In addition, he launched the second season of the Tolerance Cricket Cup for all workers in the country and the first Tolerance Kabaddi Cup.

The even was attended by government officials, dignitaries, ambassadors of sisterly countries, senior officials, investors, businessmen and around 5,000 workers.

In his speech to the workers, Sheikh Nahyan said, "The UAE deeply appreciates your contributions to its development and progress. Our country has been built upon the skills and hard work that you, your brothers and friends have given to the UAE. On this Labour Day, we thank you for your excellent work and unfailing efforts to make the UAE a country that is peaceful and welcoming to everyone. I am honoured to join you this evening to celebrate this annual event together."

He added, "The UAE shares its history with all of you. Our nation's founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, deeply valued and respected you as an important component of our global society. He made the UAE a country that welcomes talented and industrious people to live and work under the protection of its large Arab tent. We are proud that today's festivities are being held under the theme of Together in the Emirates of Zayed.

"Our celebration this evening is an expression of our country's strong commitment to tolerance. In this Year of Tolerance, I am delighted to announce the launch of the second annual Tolerance Cricket Cup, which was a huge success last year. I am also announcing today the launch of the first Tolerance Kabaddi Cup competition.

Both cups are nation-wide tournaments played among teams of players representing different workers' villages from across the country. In addition, I am pleased to announce the launch of a health care and fitness campaign that will improve the quality of life for all workers nation-wide. I thank all partners and sponsors of these activities that extend the values of human fraternity, harmony, tolerance and peace that we all enjoy in the UAE," he added.

"Thank you all for being part of the UAE community and for the critical part that you have played in building our country. Thank you for your help in making our Emirates of Zayed true to his vision as a country of peace, progress and prosperity.

And thank you for your efforts to support the cooperation and friendship between your countries and the United Arab Emirates. I am very pleased to join with you in celebrating Labour Day in our Year of Tolerance," Sheikh Nahyan concluded.

Meanwhile, Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation congratulated the UAE workers on the International Workers' Day, praising the care and support of the UAE represented by the wise leadership to the workers as one of the most important segment of society. He stressed that the ceremony reflects the community cohesion highlighting values of coexistence in the UAE as a unique example in the world.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 20,2020

Riyadh, Jul 20: Saudi Arabia's King Salman has been admitted to a hospital in the capital, Riyadh, for medical tests due to inflammation of the gallbladder, the kingdom's Royal Court said Monday in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The statement said the 84-year-old monarch is being tested at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital. The brief statement did not provide further details.

King Salman has been in power since January 2015. He is considered the last Saudi monarch of his generation of brothers who have held power since the death of their father and founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz.

King Salman has empowered his 34-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as his successor. The crown prince's assertive and bold style of leadership, as well as his consolidation of power and sidelining of potential rivals, has been controversial.

With the support of his father, Prince Mohammed has transformed the kingdom in recent years, opening it up to tourists and eroding decades of ultraconservative restrictions on entertainment and women's rights as he tries to diversify the Saudi economy away from reliance on oil exports.

The prince has also detained dozens of activists and critics, overseen a devastating war in Yemen, and rounded up top members of the royal family in his quest for power.

The Saudi king has not been seen in public in recent months due to social distancing guidelines and concerns over the spread of the coronavirus inside the kingdom, which has one of the largest outbreaks in the Middle East.

He has been shown, however, in state-run media images attending virtual meetings with his Cabinet and held calls with world leaders.

King Salman, who oversees Islam's holiest sites in Makkah and Medinah, was a crown prince under King Abdullah and served as defense minister. For more than 50 years prior to that, he was governor of Riyadh, overseeing its evolution from a barren city to a teeming capital.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 26,2020

Riyadh, Mar 26: Leaders of the Group of 20 nations will hold a summit today via video conference to discuss measures to protect the global economy, amid coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 18,000 lives globally.
The summit, which will be chaired by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aims to "advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications," according to the statement published by the G20 Secretariat on Tuesday.
The lethal virus which was first detected in December last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has since, infected over 4,14,179 people around the world.
The coronavirus has already resulted in major disruption of global supply chains, volatility and large drops in the stock market and could cause a financial crisis as stated by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
India is a member nation of the G20 group.
Speaking on the summit on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Group of 20 (G20) has an important role to play in the fight against coronavirus.
He said: "The G20 has an important global role to play in addressing the #COVID19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the G20 Virtual Summit, being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency."
The other members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union.
In view of the coronavirus outbreak situation, several international organisations -- including the United Nations, World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization will take part.
Leaders from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Financial Stability Board, the International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- will also be the part of the conference.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 2,2020

Dubai, Aug 2: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced on Saturday that it has started operations in the first of four reactors at the Barakah nuclear power station - the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world.

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), which is building and operating the plant with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) said in a press release that its subsidiary Nawah Energy Company "has successfully started up Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, located in the Al Dhafrah Region of Abu Dhabi".

That signals that Unit 1, which had fuel rods loaded in March, has achieved "criticality" - a sustained fission chain reaction.

"The start-up of Unit 1 marks the first time that the reactor safely produces heat, which is used to create steam, turning a turbine to generate electricity," said ENEC.

Barakah, which was originally scheduled to open in 2017, has been dogged by delays and is billions of dollars over budget. It has also raised myriad concerns among nuclear energy veterans who are concerned about the potential risks Barakah could visit upon the Arabian Peninsula, from an environmental catastrophe to a nuclear arms race.

Paul Dorfman, an honorary senior research fellow at the Energy Institute, University College London and founder and chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group, has criticised the Barakah reactors' "cheap and cheerful" design that he says cuts corners on safety.

Dorfman authored a report (PDF) last year detailing key safety features Barakah's reactors lack, such as a "core catcher" to literally stop the core of a reactor from breaching the containment building in the event of a meltdown. The reactors are also missing so-called Generation III Defence-In-Depth reinforcements to the containment building to shield against a radiological release resulting from a missile or fighter jet attack.

Both of these engineering features are standard on new reactors built in Europe, says Dorfman.

There have been at least 13 aerial attacks on nuclear facilities in the Middle East - more than any other region on earth.

The vulnerability of critical infrastructure in the Arabian Peninsula was further laid bare last year after Saudi Arabia's oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais were attacked by 18 drones and seven cruise missiles - an assault that temporarily knocked out more than half of the kingdom's oil production.

On Saturday, Dorfman reiterated his concern that there is no regional protocol in place to determine liability should an accident or incident at Barakah result in radioactive contamination spreading from the UAE to its neighbours. 

"Given Barakah has started up, because of all the well-rehearsed nuclear safety and security problems, it may be critically important that the Gulf states collectively evolve a Nuclear Accident Liability Convention, so that if anything does go wrong, victim states may have some sort of redress," Dorfman told Al Jazeera. 

The UAE has substantial oil and gas reserves, but it has made huge investments in developing alternative energy sources, including nuclear and solar.

Experts though have questioned why the UAE - which is bathed in sunlight and wind - has pushed ahead with nuclear energy - a far more expensive and riskier option than renewable energy sources.

When the UAE first announced Barakah in 2009, nuclear power was cheaper than solar and wind. But by 2012 - when the Emirates started breaking ground to build the reactors - solar and wind costs had plummeted dramatically.

Between 2009 and 2019, utility-scale average solar photovoltaic costs fell 89 percent and wind fell 43 percent, while nuclear jumped 26 percent, according to an analysis by the financial advisory and asset manager Lazard.

There are also concerns about the potential for Barakah to foment nuclear proliferation in the Middle East - a region rife with geopolitical fault lines and well-documented history of nuclear secrecy.

The UAE has sought to distance itself from the region's bad behaviour by agreeing not to enrich its own uranium or reprocess spent fuel. It has also signed up to the United Nation's nuclear watchdog's Additional Protocol, significantly enhancing inspection capabilities, and secured a 123 Agreement with the United States that allows bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.