Thursday, July 26, 2007

Arrogance & mismanagement - guess who!

Yes of course, the RTA.

The much boasted about Floating Bridge was closed yesterday during peak hours without any advance warning to motorists.

Emergency work demanding immediate action? Not according to the RTA.

Astonishingly, they say the damage to Dubai's vital commercial life, the lost productivity, the added pollution, the frustration to motorists, the chaos, was caused deliberately.

Denying rumours that there was a safety problem or a malfunction, Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, CEO of the RTA's Traffic & Roads Agency, said they had carried out tests and technical experiments during peak hours.

They not only didn't tell motorists what they planned, it seems they kept the police in the dark too. An official is quoted as saying that they were requested by the RTA to send patrols to regulate traffic but: "We do not know why the bridge was closed. We just diverted the traffic"

By the way, I loved this quote from Maitha. Pure bureaucrat-speak. "After the conduction of the technical experiment we noticed some minor issues, which were immediately tackled to reflect the RTA’s commitment to surpass all types of difficulties that could hamper the traffic smoothness."

First the water buses disappear the day after they're launched to a great fanfare, now this problem with the Floating Bridge.

I've asked many times before - when are those responsible for the chaaos and mismanagement going to be held responsible?

Full stories with Gulf News here and 7Days here.

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