Bringing in greater cohesion

Dubai: UAE officials said the new weekend is expected to result in greater cohesion within the country as well as in the UAE's international interaction.

Humaid Al Merri, head of the Personnel Department at Dubai Municipality, said the change will have a positive effect on international dealings and will be a boon to the economy.

"In the past we used to miss four days communication with organisations abroad. This was particularly difficult for the private sector, such as import or export companies," he told Gulf News.

"Now the number of working days lost has been reduced to three, which will be of benefit to the country."

Al Merri said he did not foresee a major change within the UAE, adding that the municipality's emergency hotline would remain operational 24 hours a day.

Brigadier Abdullah Mubarak Al Dukhani, Director of the Sharjah Operations Department, said less traffic is expected on Sharjah's roads on Saturday.

"Because people have to work on Thursday and many parents will be tired after a full day working, they may prefer to stay at home," he said. "Then traffic will only become heavy on Friday at 6pm."

He added that he did not expect a significant increase in traffic on Saturdays because people prefer to stay at home preparing for the working week.

"We are ready for any changes in traffic movement expected on roads," he said.

Brigadier Eisa Aman, acting director of Dubai Police's traffic department, said he could not predict exactly how the weekend change would affect traffic in Dubai.

"However, I expect that there will be more traffic on Thursdays," he said.

However, Brigadier Rashid Bakhit Al Jumairi, Deputy Director of the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department, said he did not expect the new changes to have an impact on life in the UAE.

"It will be the same because we will have to work on Thursday followed by two days off which we will share with public and private sectors," he said.

Changes

Postal services
Emirates Post has announced postal services will not be affected by the change of weekend, although administrations in all postal zones and headquarters will switch over to the Friday-Saturday weekend.

According to Abdullah Al Daboos, Director General of Emirates Post, post offices will remain open daily from 8am to 8pm except on Fridays when only the main post offices are open in the afternoon. The management and administration offices will work from Sunday to Thursday, 7.30am to 2.30pm.