13 January, 2008

Road closure?

Just got this in from a friend's HR department:

Please note there will be several closures tomorrow as a result of President Bush's visit to the UAE. You should make generous allowances for travel time to and from work. According to one report the following roads are expected to be closed between 6 am and 5 pm

Al Khail Road closed
SZR closed from Salik to Salik
Jumeirah Beach Road closed from Al Thanya to Jumeirah Corporate office (far side of Madinat)
Al Wasl closed from Al Thanya to Dubai Police


Can anyone confirm this??

UPDATE: Public Holiday tomorrow due to road closure

15 comments:

Back of House in DXB said...

The sum of all the news I've been told:

Neither RTA or Police are giving official statements.

I've been told by Mum's in the office Jebel Ali Primary School, Kings College and English College are all closed tomorrow.

Jumeirah International senior staff have been told to be at work by 5.45am or work from home.

Middlesex University has cancelled all exams for today and tomorrow and are rescheduling for later in the week...

Mohammed Owais said...

my brother who works for the burj al arab read this out from his official email this last week and I refused to believe it. Apparently, it has now been confirmed (unofficially, though) that all roads around the BAA will indeed be closed from 6AM to 6PM. The sea shore will been cordoned off for miles around as well.

what a ridiculous waste of time. The least they could have done was give people a few days advance notice of the closure, given that bush's itinerary has been public news for a month now.

Tags said...

This on AME Info: UAE blocks roads for Bush - With US president Bush visiting the UAE, The govenmnet announced on the radio that Sheikh Zayed will be closed tomorrow from Garhoud to Al Barsha from 6am to 4.30pm .Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Beach Road will also be closed in addition to the area around Umm Sequim.

http://www.ameinfo.com/143647.html

Back of House in DXB said...

Hot of the press - tomorrow has been declared a holiday

http://khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2008/January/theuae_January323.xml§ion=theuae

HAPPY GEORGE DUBYA BUSH DAY DUBAI!

Parv said...

A public holiday has just been announced on the local newspapers:

Gulf News

Hemen said...

Monday declared holiday for private and public sectors in Dubai
WAM
Last updated: January 13, 2008, 16:00


Dubai: Monday, January 14, has been declared a holiday for public and private sectors in Dubai due to the closure of some main roads, bridges and tunnels.

Residents have been urged to avoid using main roads on Monday.

Tags said...

Can't believe old George has done something good for a change - arf arf.

Quite ridiculous really...

i*maginate said...

Sarkozy's coming next week.

Expect a holiday announced about 5 hours before his arrival.

saywhatyouwant said...

Yeah. it's an official day on 14 Jan 2008!!!

hut said...

Dammit. With Al Wasl road and Beach road blocked I can't get out of my block.

Ahh, the joys of dictatorship.

Reminds me of the story when an American president went to Bucharest for the first time after end of the Cold War and they repainted the facades of all houses on the one entire road he was travelling down, and shut down electricity in the whole of Bucharest except for that avenue and the People's palace.

Mohammed Owais said...

I can almost see the headlines in the very near future: "President Bush voted most popular man in Dubai. Residents say he is a great guy and should come over every month"

Dubai Jazz said...

Hail to the chief wala! hail to the chief!

rosh said...

damn! i just flew out today.

Grumpy Goat said...

Typical, isn't it? Bush's vist has presumably been known about in official circles for months. Yet no planning is done. And then, mere hours before the Big Event, someone notices a potential security problem and completely over-reacts.

samuraisam said...

Grumpy Goat: I'm sure they planned this months ago; it's a good tactic to keep everyone in their homes (no protesters this way). I've heard it been described as a 'curfew' by more than a few people...

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