Yesterday, thanks to the total lack of advance notice of a major road closure combined with misleading signage, Dubai Marina was gridlocked until late morning. People were trapped in their vehicles for three hours and more.
So being aware of the problems they had caused, the RTA took action to change the signs, telling people the road was closed and directing people to the new route, right?
No.
They did nothing.
The gridlock is the same this morning as yesterday.
The roads have been changed, the signage hasn't been.
Drive along Al Sufouh Road towards Jebel Ali/Abu Dhabi and the signs direct you straight through Dubai Marina, as they have for over a year, but now they take you to the road closure.
Hundreds of vehicles arriving at the closed road are trying to find a way back, they're being joined by the hundreds of people living in Dubai Marina who are trying to get out of their buildings. More and more are joining the back of the queue.
No signs tell drivers the road has changed, no signs tell drivers the correct road to take, there are only signs sending them in the wrong direction.
28 July, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
28 comments:
Im sooo sorry - its all my fault... i went by there on sat night trying to get to ibn batuta and saw it was blocked. I thoght to call madinati... but didn't, thinking everything would be sorted in the morning as per the norm... really, really sorry for my lack of thought...
no really... could some of those workers with the red flags outside of their sites actually be redeployed to the entrance of the road?
They've got big chiefs at the top, they've got visionaries who supposedly understand the Big Picture, they've got Vision and Mission statements (read 'em, they're hilarious), they've got thousands of cheap labourers to do the actual work.
But, what they (and many other companies here) are missing are good MANAGERS. People who understand what needs to be done, people who understand the concept of the customer, people who are used to making decisions, planning ahead etc etc etc.
With thanks to 2020hindsight, Rodgers and Hammerstein. The rest of the culpa is mea.
They've got Big Chiefs at the top,
And they've got Visionaries.
And they've got a Mission Statement
They recite to the Big Cheese.
They build tower blocks and Palms,
Lots of real estate to sell.
What ain't they got?
You know darned well!
They haven't really got any kinda notion...
They're less organised than Brownian motion.
They have nothing like a plan -
Nothing in the world,
And they do not care a damn
That they're working without a plan.
Seebee is upset.
So are hundreds of other people who try to get to work on time!
LOL Grumpy Goat - very good.
That's the first - and almost certainly the last - time someone has mentioned me in the same sentence as the great R&H !!
Oh dear,
Maybe by 2020 when Dubai hosts the Olympics (cough) it's all be fixed transport wise...
We're hopping around smelling more flowers this summer and write to you from Scotland where the traffic is next to nothing in comparison...
However, despite us longing for other places we still miss Doo-bye.
Strange but true...added you to our blog roll today UAE community and we've 20 writers from around the world keen to see the goings on in Dubai so keep up the great work!
Cheers!
GO! Smell the flowers
Sitting here on a cool, green mountain hillside where traffic is just a distant memory, I wonder how much longer I will be able to take the traffic nightmares back "home" in the UAE. Only two more weeks until I to return to driving madness...
:yawn:
Wish all expats stopped moaning and were more like the Lebanese guy below, who knows Dubai's living standard is better than any other city in the world,
Dubai needs more of such expats!
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/525885-uae-most-luxurious-country-in-world-for-expats
Yes, it's the highest standard of living for all. I am just a Senior Executive from Lebanon and i can feel the difference when i visit my other friends living in Europe or USA or Asia or even other GCC countries. Whoever does not like UAE should leave immediately (today rather than tomorrow). Yes, it's incredibly expensive but overall the standard of living is second to none. Even my friends in Japan, New York, London, Paris envy me. They have been to Dubai and they know how to compare very well. There are rich and middle and poor everywhere. Obviously, education, profession, experience, exposure, personality, and etc... play a major role in shaping your standard of living. Naturally, locals should be the 1st beneficiaries of any country's wealth. It's the case in Iceland, NZ, Sweden, Canada, Brunei, Denmark and all over. Stop envying the nice Emiratis and work on improving yourselves.
bb, sorry, as you knew it would be, the racist comments meant it had to be deleted
Seabee - u dont need to be sorry for deleting a racist comments
Seabee, even if I may not agree with what bb wrote, a lot of it was absolutely spot on, particularly the bits on Indian middle managers .
Its a shame when we develop knee jerk PC reactions anytime someone mentions any nationality..........
Stop relating people and their opinions to their nationality. One or a group does not represent an entire nation. For once please open that sealed fckin jar head of yours and think beyond nationality.
Is it that hard to talk about anything without considering the passport they hold or their skin color??
The comments bb made I've been hearing since I first came her thirty years ago. Nothing new but he has a right to make them. The problem was the racism dotted throughout the comment. If he'd left the racism out, and the unnecessary bad language, it could have stayed in for people to read.
bb, why not edit and repost?
The guidelines are clear for participating on this community blog and I don't want to risk it being banned by leaving such content on view.
is this blog secretly sponsored by some car dealership?
Aw boy , that stinks.
Duabi is REALLY unorganized.
No, I don't want to edit and repost. I'm not as interested as I was last yesterday :).
I was reading a book by Andy Mcnab and I just decided to try posting in his style, hence the heavy amount of swear word and heavy handed nationality (not race) based comments.
I'm not interested in political correctness especially if it involves pretending to ignore characteristic which are due to the environment we were raised in.
We all have behavioral patterns conditioned by our origin, social class, religion and so on. Why do you think most people associate by nationalities, European hangs out mostly with other european, indian with indian, filipino with filipino and so on. Sure we do mix, a little, but overall it's just much easier to stick to "your own". We have different cultures and a lot of the time different reasoning procedures and those differences can some time be very interesting and sometime quite irritating.
And the guy in charge of the RTA might not all be dead stupid but they sure have no clue how to communicate. And I do want to run one over when I see the britney spearesque "We've done it again" ads.
Quoting anon: "Wish all expats stopped moaning and were more like the Lebanese guy below, who knows Dubai's living standard is better than any other city in the world,
Dubai needs more of such expats!
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/525885-uae-most-luxurious-country-in-world-for-expats"
Seriously, this is a sad pathetic effort now to keep drumming this broken record over and over again. UAE today reminds me of of the communist Soviet Union with their heavy-handed propaganda that was directed at all newly "acquired" citizenry's every time they invade a new country: a constant drumming of how USSR is the greatest country in the World, films and films of its mighty army and great factories and smiling peasants and glorious Gagarin conquering space, with the big slogan "a chicken in every home" as the height of luxury, all while downgrading the US and showing how "individuality" there and capitalism has corrupted the nation and filled it with horrible crime and left people dying in the street.
Sheikh Zayed and Rashed's visions were of real properly managed countries comprising fairness between expats and locals, and thus flourished. Not this new degradation of civilization and law, and the tidal wave of greed and corruption that now swept the nation eating out of the fruitful garden that was created by the 40 year old lifelong work of their predecessors. It won't last long this way and you would eat your words had you actually meant them rather than been paid for them. You actually think you're doing this place a favour with this drivel? You might as well go sell dodgy used cars you insignificant propaganda tick! The Real Dubai as it used to be, built by the long-time expats and the laws and justice of Sheikh Zayed and Rashed, would have no place for the likes of you, minions of the scared middle failed managers of government agencies approaching total meltdown trying frantically to cover their asses, other than a garbage can.
Dubai Warrior
Wohoo hoo! go Dubai Warrior go!
:)
Not a pretty picture you paint there Dubai Warrior, as it brings to mind a popular double-edged sword theorem ‘degradation of ethics & the impending downfall of humankind’.
People, enjoy the long weekend but don't forget 'in vino veritas'!
Could someone put up a post on the Lebanese singer who got murdered at the Marina pls, so we can bitch about safety standards in Dubai?
Well, if I lived in the Marina, I sure would be p!$$3d as hell to be stuck in this jam, considering the kind of $$ you have to pay to live there. The least I should get in return is unclogged roads, or I might as well live in Sharjah.
gridlock in the marina? seems inevitable with 200+ high rise towers, packed like sardines!
I dont know if you all will like it or not but I am here to praise RTA for a good work of theirs, as compared to Sharjah traffic department.
My wife has a driving licence from Dubai I from Sharjah, we went to RTA office at Eppco in Ghusais and within 15 minutes my wife's licence was changed to show her correct name, before and after the marriage, international driving licence and also a letter both in Arabic and English was issued to say that she has licence from Dubai for the last 7 years without a fine or accident, thats good because she has not driven in the last 5 years.
Today I went to Sharjah traffic department at Emirates Road to get the same issued for myself. First shock, these can not be issued there I had to go to the head office within Sharjah, a hell lot of traffic, once I am there I was sent to a typing center out side the main building and the guy there simply types a letter in Arabic hands it over to me, I pay him AED10/- goes back into the building to the reception, now the person hand me over a form, yes to be typed again in Arabic, I get it typed hands him another AED10/- and be back in the building. I have already wasted 45 mintues in this.
Now I was sent to 3 different office/room, 7 different desks with 3 repeat visits to 3 of those different desks and finally I get a letter in Arabic only withou signatures and withou stamp for which I have to visit another officer with 3 stars. I have wasted another 1 hours 30 minutes in all this back & forth excersice.
I find this man with 3 stars to be busy working for another man and I humbly stand there to enable him to finish his work. He finishes his work and suddently a Jordanian Arab comes and places his documents in front of the officer and starts talking to him in Arabic ofcourse, the officer ignores me and starts entertaining the Jordanian. I am already pissed off with all these Arabs who just loves to break the line and I told him to stand behind because it is my turn and he should wait. Surprisingly the officer does not like it and said to me he is just asking a question and when I replied that I am also here to ask a questiion and every body should be entertained in a qeue he tell me that the work I want him to do does not concern him and if I want him to do it I should shut up and sit some where in front of him and when he is free he will see if he can help me.
I am embarassed and I am shocked and I am tired, I left the office and now thinking that I should tear off all the papers that I have got because the documents is in any case in Arabic and I need to get it translated into English from a legal translation office and then get it stamped and authorized from the same moron in Sharjah traffice department to be able to put it into use as I intended.
RTA is a much better mornon than the other morons in this area.
zafar this is not the place to air your grievances. Did you know that if you don't like it you can always leave? Repeat after me, if you don't like it, just leave. or take ur shirt off and help divert traffic at the marina. make ur lazy self useful or just leave.
Dear Anon18:32; you do not deserve a response as you do not have the courage to identify yourself.
Post a Comment
NOTE: By making a post/comment on this blog you agree that you are solely responsible for its content and that you are up to date on the laws of the country you are posting from and that your post/comment abides by them.
To read the rules click here
If you would like to post content on this blog click here