1997 09 04 Thursday No. :20097
ZAYED, MAKTOUM OFFER CONDOLENCES
President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan yesterday sent two cables of condolences to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain and to the heir to the British throne the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum send similar cables to the British Queen and Prince Charles.
Chairman of Abu Dhabi Seaport Authority Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed al Nahyan visited the British Embassy to offer condolences on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Sheikh Saeed, who was received by British Acting Chargé d'Affaires Patrick Morgan and members of the Embassy, conveyed the condolences of President Sheikh Zayed to Queen Elizabeth II and to the British Government and people on the tragic accident.
He also conveyed the condolences of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. Morgan expressed thanks and appreciation for Sheikh Saeed's visit and said he would convey the condolences to the British monarch, the Royal Family and Diana's family.
Meanwhile, chief of Dubai Civil Aviation Department and Emirates Airline Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, on behalf of the Dubai Government, offered condolences to Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the British people and to Princes William and Harry, on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The condolences were written by Sheikh Ahmed in the book kept by the British Consulate in Dubai, where he was received by staff at the Consulate.
Sheikh Ahmed affirmed that Diana had occupied the hearts of people for a long time as a sponsor of charity works and an offerer of assistance to patients, the handicapped and the needy worldwide. (The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
Saddened by the news of Diana, Princess of Wales,' tragic death, a UAE poet has written a touching elegy to her. Published yesterday in the Arabic daily Al Ittihad, it is written in 'Nabathi', a popular form of verse in the dialect of Bedouin inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula. The poet, who refers to himself only as a 'dejected' fan of the Princess, departs from the usual themes taken up in Nabathi poetry. Nabathi poets traditionally write under pseudonyms as a test for the readers, who are expected to identify the poet from the style of the poetry.
Though the Nabathi dialect is more difficult than classical Arabic, Emirates News presents here a free translation of the elegy: As the sun was about /to appear on the horizon/ The CNN broke the news/that Diana is no more./ My soul lamented her / A queen of people's hearts / No-one matched/her (kind) heart./ Behold the / Impression she left / In Bosnia and Afghanistan./ A sensible lady/who abandoned / wealth and fame,/A devotee in / charity's name./ I believe not what I see/ And what I hear / My soul is filled with gloom / The (paparazzi) who caused her misery / May feel no ease./ Those who adored her/ May be content that / She rests in peace / (For) fate and death/ Forget no-one, / Spare none. (The Emirates News)
'LABOUR FORCE DEMAND INCREASING'
Demand for labour in the UAE has constantly increased over the past years due to a steady growth in the economy, a bank study said yesterday. After a rapid growth during the oil boom, the labour demand slowed down in the late 1980s but picked up again in the 1990s because of expansion in the non-oil sector, said the study conducted by the Emirates Industrial Bank, EIB. Employment grew at an average 4.4% annually during 1990-1995, it said.
"While these rates are still lower than those of the 1970s, they are, however, on a much larger base, implying a fairly substantial influx of imported labour," it said. "Thus, during the 10 years between 1985 and 1995, persons engaged increased by 261,000, compared to 331,000 during the period 1975-1985".
The study said that almost all demand for labour came from the non-oil sectors, with the energy sector contributing only 1.0% of the total employment. Consequently, it added, the labour problem is entirely confined to the issues of the development of the non-oil sector, which though it is desirable to reduce dependency on oil revenues, is hampered by the limited labour availability.
It said that the sector that registered the highest increase in employment was trading and hotels, which recorded an increase of 72,000 persons engaged in 5.0 years, a growth of nearly 72.0%. Other main sectors included domestic household services and construction. (The Gulf Today and other papers)
Officials and experts from Gulf Arab states and other countries will gather in Abu Dhabi this year to discuss oil developments in the region, organisers said yesterday. The November 23 - 24 conference will be attended by Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain as well as the UAE, and other countries.
The Middle East Oil Conference '97 will include several papers covering oil reserves in the region, co-operation between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and non-OPEC producers, the role of Gulf oil powers in meeting global supply needs and other topics. (The Gulf Today)
SHOT IN ARM FOR INDUSTRIALISATION IN THE UAE
A new company has emerged on the UAE's industrial horizon with an initial capital of Dh 51.0 million to participate in the setting up of industrial, service and business projects. Called the Abu Dhabi National Industrial Projects Company, ADNIP, the new firm will mainly focus on encouraging co-operation between business people from various sectors in order to establish medium- to large-scale industries and services projects that are competitive and which will open new business opportunities.
ADNIP has been launched as a private shareholdling company, bringing together a number of businessmen and investment houses, according to Samir Ramadan, Managing Director of Business Enterprises Services. The company's starting capital has been divided into 510,000.0 shares each with a value of Dh 100.00, he said.
Business Enterprises is the company that carried out the feasibility study and the actual mechanics of setting up ADNIP as well as the negotiations for the projects proposed to be carried out by the new company. The company proposes to start its operations by establishing three manufacturing plants, including one for tissue paper production (jumbo rolls), a plastic medical disposable unit and a synthetic tufted carpet manufacturing unit, he said.
Ramadan said that the total cost of the proposed projects amounts to Dh 162.0 million, out of which ADNIP's share will be 51.0% while the rest will be invited from foreign shareholders, such as technology providers and companies specialised in the same field of operation.
Ramadan pointed out that the kind of projects that will be undertaken by ADNIP will be ones that require high investment levels which could be out of the ambit of individual investors. Thus, ADNIP will provide an opportunity for a large number of individuals to gather together as joint shareholders and reap the benefits of high-investment, high-revenue projects which the newly-formed company will undertake.
ADNIP's objectives include establishing feasible industrial projects; establishing industrial service facilities such as design, maintenance and training facilities; servicing industrial and business projects, as well as business systems and technology projects and participation in industrial and industry-servicing projects.
ADNIP's board of directors include Mohammed Jouan al Badi, Obaid Khalifa al Jabr, Al Haj bin Abdullah al Muhairbi, Rashid al Mazrouie and Hussain Jassem al Nowais. (The Gulf News, and other papers)
UNIQUE EVIDENCE FROM TELL ABRAQ OF ANCIENT USE OF METALS
The archaeological site of Tell Abraq, on the borders of Umm al Qaiwain and Sharjah, offers unique evidence of the use of metals in south eastern Arabia during the Bronze Age, between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago, according to a recent publication.
The paper, 'Prehistoric Metallurgy at Tell Abraq', was written by Lloyd Weeks, an archaeologist from Australia's University of Sydney, who has carried out a special study into the metal artefacts found during excavations at Tell Abraq and is published in the latest issue of the bi-annual journal 'Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy'.
Over 500 different metal objects have been recovered during four seasons of excavations at Tell Abraq, a site which spans the period from around 2,300 BC to 300 BC, covering the Bronze Age, until around 1,300 BC to 300 BC. The site was also in use in the early centuries of the Christian era. The excavations were carried out by a University of Sydney team under the direction of Professor Dan Potts and are provisionally scheduled to resume again next winter.
Around 150 individual metal objects have been submitted to chemical analysis, according to results published in Weeks' paper, being assessed for the presence of copper, tin, lead, zinc, arsenic, silver, nickel, iron, sulphur and silicon. According to Weeks, the results of the analysis have confirmed the hypothesis that the secondary processing of raw copper was undertaken at Tell Abraq.
Of particular interest, he notes, is the evidence from the metal analysis that bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was in use at Tell Abraq in the Umm al Nar period, until around 2,000 BC, when it accounted for 55.0% of metal objects, and in the subsequent Wadi Suq period, from 2,000 BC to 1,300 BC, when it accounted for 41.0% of objects.
Elsewhere on Bronze Age sites in the Emirates and southeastern Arabia, the use of tin is relatively rare. "The most unprecedented result of the analytical programme undertaken was (this) prevalence of tin bronze in the Umm al Nar and Wadi Suq periods at Tell Abraq," Weeks says. In other ways, he adds, "Tell Abraq fits comfortably within the spectrum of prehistorical metallurgical practices of the Oman peninsula.
However, the relative frequency of tin bronze usage is as high as any area of Western Asia in the Bronze Age, and marks the metal assemblage from the site as unique in southeastern Arabia." Weeks speculates that tin was reaching Tell Abraq by sea, "perhaps through contact with the Harappan civilisation (of the Indus Valley)", and goes on to suggest that "the unprecedented appearance of tin bronze at Tell Abraq may be a result of its unique levels of interaction with tin bronze-using cultures in the west, north and east."
Other evidence from the Tell Abraq site suggests extensive contacts with Iran, Mesopotamia, the Dilmun civilisation of Bahrain and the Indus Valley, while finds have also been made which suggest contact, perhaps indirect, with Bactria in central Asia.
Interestingly, Weeks notes, tin deposits "now appear to be the most likely source of the tin used in Western Asia in the Bronze Age," with the Tell Abraq material representing "the first significant body of evidence which testifies to tin reaching the Oman peninsula and the Arabian Gulf."
Overall, the evidence convincingly marshalled by Weeks further underlines the importance of the Tell Abraq site as one of the most important archaeological sites yet to have been discovered in the Emirates, with a significance not merely for the UAE itself but for an understanding of the role played by the country's international maritime commercial links over 4,000 years ago. (The Emirates News)