Plans to revamp Sharjah infrastructure

Sharjah: Sharjah Municipality has pledged to improve the quality of life for residents all over the city and reinforce the image of Sharjah as a peaceful home for families in 2008.

New plans covering a host of civic services and regulations are underway with investments of up to Dh740 million, the highest in the municipality's history since it was established some 80 years ago.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Dr Salah Taher Al Haj, Director General of Sharjah Municipality, revealed the civic body is focusing on solving traffic congestion and the shortage of parking space in a number of residential and commercial areas.

One of the solutions to the traffic problem, Al Haj said, is the introduction of a new intra-city public transport system, almost 20 years after public transportation was abolished by the municipality because it was hardly used by residents at the time. He said the system will be fully operational and will cover most of the city in the current year.

Following is the interview:

Gulf News: Day by day, traffic in Sharjah is getting more congested and movement in the city is becoming more difficult. What projects is the civic body carrying out in order to upgrade the road system?

Dr Salah Taher Al Haj: Highways in Sharjah are the responsibility of the Public Works Department, which is currently carrying out a major upgrading project of highways in the city. The municipality is in charge of roads within residential and commercial districts and there another improvement project is ongoing. The municipality has already signed contracts with local specialised contractors to carry out road projects in seven new areas and three residential areas, including Trafana and Rafaa, at a total cost of Dh203 million in addition to the ongoing road projects in the industrial areas.

For the first time, roads to be built in the city will include all sub services and facilities such as waste and rainwater drainage, in addition to electricity, water, gas and telephone lines prior to surfacing the road, in order to avoid cutting the asphalt at a later stage.

We will also be working in Muwaileh Commercial District in Sharjah. The work will start this year. We have prioritised providing civic services in the industrial area and the municipality has a plan that is being executed.

Don't you think that the expansion of residential areas in Sharjah has brought them too close to the industrial areas? Is there a plan to covert industrial areas 1 and 2 alongside Al Wahda Street into residential areas?

City planning is the responsibility of a different department. But we [Sharjah Municipality] encourage industries to move to the Sajaa Industrial Area which is being equipped with all the facilities that make it attractive for industries to be there. The industries which are located in the city are welcome to move there and at a certain stage, in my opinion, industrial areas no 1 and no 2 have to be converted into residential and commercial areas in the future.

Parking has become a serious problem in Sharjah. The municipality failed to recognise the problem at an early stage when planning the city. Currently, every new household in Sharjah needs a parking space, but the problem of finding a space for cars is becoming very irritating. What are the solutions to the parking problem?

We have a host of solutions that we are trying to implement. The first is to make it compulsory for every flat in Sharjah to have a parking space for one or two cars, depending on the area of the flat. We know some flats will later accommodate families who have more than two or three cars.

This is a challenge we are facing in Sharjah. We are planning to organise paid parking. Owners of vehicles who used to just leave their cars on the street for days when they go abroad will not be able to do this any more because many areas in the city have been equipped with controlled parking. Residents in some areas find the controlled parking zones very useful.

This move is seen by many residents as a way to collect fees. It did not help to increase the parking capacity of the city, what do you think?

It is true that in some areas of Sharjah there are now parking fees, but since fees were introduced, we noticed that people are using parking facilities in a rational manner and you don't see cars that are abandoned on the streets for weeks or months.

Any more projects?

Yes. We are constructing multi-storey parking facilities in some residential areas. These new parking facilities will be located in Abu Shaghara, Al Qasimia, Al Majaz, Bu Danag and Shwaiheen.

What about the fees?

The fees will be reasonable. The projects were meant to solve parking problems in some areas in Sharjah, not to make profits out of leasing the facilities. The multi-storey parking projects will solve the problem of parking soon.

Traffic problems have become very irritating for residents in Sharjah. In Dubai, the construction of a metro system has been seen as one of the solutions to the traffic problems in the city. Are you planning a metro in Sharjah?

I think Sharjah is still far from planning a metro system. Sharjah has a transport authority responsible for mass transport systems. Very soon the authority will launch a public bus transport system that will cover the city.

The used car market in Sharjah has become a problem for thousands of people living in the Abu Shaghara and Bu Danag areas. The municipality has been talking of moving the market to a different location but nothing has happened. What are your plans to solve the problem?

Let me emphasise that the Sharjah used car market has built up a regional image and we are keen to develop it further.

Regardless of those who left the market for neighbouring emirates, Sharjah is still the market where 65 per cent of used car transactions are conducted. We will be moving the market to a location on Al Dhaid Road called Al Bugaa Al Hamra (Red Spot).

The existing 400 outlets in Abu Shaghara and the neighbouring Bu Danag area will be given generous incentives to move to Al Dhaid Road. The new market will accommodate nearly 500 shops. We are ready for the move.

Standards: Families and bachelors

A group of families can live together in one flat or villa provided they don't modify the design of the building, said Dr Salah Taher Al Haj, Director General of Sharjah Municipality.

He said in the past inspectors noticed that families had built walls and bathrooms to ensure some privacy. This is not allowed.

"Regarding a group of bachelors living in one flat, we [the municipality] differentiate between workers living in residential or commercial areas. Workers have to live in camps in industrial areas."

"The municipality has no problems with a group of bachelors living together in a flat in a commercial area, as long as conditions are not cramped.

"One or two people in a room is not against civic standards, but 15 or 20 people living in a two or three bedroom flat is not accepted. We have to maintain certain living standards and the municipality is carrying out a campaign to make sure that rules are not violated."

Are you a resident of Sharjah? What according to you are the most important civic issues that need to be addressed immediately? Do you think this move will help improve civic services ?

National Paints roundabout has the worst traffic in the history of UAE. The next problem is parking spaces. Please do something.
Cel
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 16:02

1)National Paint Bridge, part of Emirates Road, should be upgraded to match Dubai Lanes. 2)More branch roads between Dubai
Mohammed Al mulla
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 14:47

I find it difficult to understand that most of the roads in sharjah are two lanes and centre part is occupied by greenery. Would it not be useful to use that space for an extra third lane which to some degree will solve the traffic congestion problem?
Nadeem
Sharjah,U.A.E
Posted: April 13, 2008, 14:42

The taxi car system is very badly managed in Sharjah. The public has to wait for hours to get a taxi. Even when a taxi stops he may refuse to take to the area you have to travel. Just like Dubai taxi, Sharjah also should make taxi service efficient. Strict monitoring the behaviour of drivers needs to be taken up. Sudden checking by civil dress policemen can catch such ruthless drivers. The service to Dubai should be made available. Strict patrolling in AlWahdha street can find the drivers who refuse Dubai passengers.
Dr. George
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 14:39

It's sad to see that one has to buy an apartment without parking space or pay hefty amount for parking despite having car park in the building. This is a good example of how people make money out of poor infrasturcture.
AS
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 14:09

Al Nahda is one of the areas affected with morning rush hour traffic. Mainly because of the insufficient capacity of the small Sahara Centre bridge to cater to innumerable vehicles using it. Can the authorities do something about it?
YH
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 13:57

In Sharjah most important things is lack of proper infrastructure planning. Even recently built roads and bridges are facing traffic congestion due to improper planning and traffic impact study. There are several exits/entries to main highways, some roads enter the bridge where several other roads join in. At least for the new projects, roads should be built to international standards or at least Dubai Standards.
AS
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 13:51

I am a resident of Sharjah since 2000 behind Labour Office, Yarmouk. Earlier sharjah was very safe even for ladies to walk during the night. But now things have changed and yesterday my neigbour (girl studying in 6th class) was caught in the hand by somebody, but she was able to run away. It has become difficult to leave the children outside the house for playing. It is also alarming to see strange people roaming in this area with mobile phones, and the fact that there is not enough police patroling in these areas gives such people more chances. Hence in order to improve the quality of life, I hereby request the goverment should also start taking firm and immediate action to prevent such incidents so as to safeguard the life of the people in Sharjah.
Anand
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 13:46

Sharjah could provide decent housing at an affodable price to millions of expats and nationals compares to other places in the Middle East. Oweing to the rocketing rent hike, many people opt to relocate to Sharjah and Northern Emirates. As a result the traffic congestion has been increased along with shortage of parking lots. The decision by Sharjah municipality to introduce bus services, relocation of used car show rooms and industrial areas off the residential zones are laudable and will create positive results.
Sam
Al Nahda,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 13:40

I have been living in my Al Mamzar (Opp Al tawuun mall) flat for past 6 years when there were hardly few buildings near my flat, now that there have been a no. of new buildings all around still there is no proper road to most of the buildings. Is it important to have vast area's of green lawn alongside airport and university road or proper roads to all the buildings is my question. The area I'm talking about is opposite Ansar mall on other side of the road. Also there is no one bothered to clean these area's which are spilled with plastic bags and rubish always. Sometimes I wonder if this part belongs to UAE.
Chetan
Sharjah,Indian
Posted: April 13, 2008, 13:39

Why does the Sharjah Government allow buildings to be built so close to main roads? They then provide only a one lane service road along side the building which blocks traffic flow when vehicles are loading or unloading, providing no parking for vehicles. Prime example is Kalba Road near National Paints roundabout, VERY POOR plannig. See the thousand cars parked along Kalba road each night so residents don't have to negotiate National Disaster roundabout each morning.
Graham
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 13:06

Announcements and promises are good, but no improvements are found practically for the public. The main problem is the traffic conjestion everywhere in Sharjah especially all the exits to Dubai. To ease this traffic congestion in Dubai we can see a lot of new roads and bridges, expansion of existing roads and infrastructure, but Sharjah we didn't see any such movements from the authorities. I find a very big delay even in completion of few minor expansion of roads mainly in cultural square R\A, Industrial areas etc. I am not very optimistic about this plans and developments.
Ansari
sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 12:57

First and foremost, Sharjah Municipality should convert all the existing internal roads which are dirt roads to proper TAR Roads. By this lots of traffic on the main roads will be diverted.
Kutub
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 12:28

It is extremely important that you move the used car shops from Abu Shagara. This is the most populated middle class areas where most of the families are living. It becomes difficult to take the car from a proper parking as the used cars are parked irresponsibily. Most of the time the police do not act even if you show the cars to them. The residents cannot plan anything as they are not sure if they will be able to take the car out as the used cars are parked behind them. Furthermore, the irrational and arrogant behaviour of these shop owners are making it worse. I humbly request the Sharjah policy and Municipality together to resolve this problem as early as possible.
karuna
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 12:16

Thanks for Sharjah Municipality Authorities for their good action on introducing public transport system. Kindly provide city buses from Sharjah Fish Market/Rolla bus stand to Dubai Media City/Internet City/Jebel Ali via all the major roads in Sharja. I suggest that if traffic authorites can reserve one lane seperate for City Buses/taxis through out to Dubai, most of the people who work in Dubai will travel in public Buses instead of driving their own car and this will help to reduce the traffic conjection. Kindly introduce the public transport system immediately.
Ronald
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 11:54

I hope the Municipality carry out inspections on hygiene.
Shabbir
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 11:42

Just fix a camera on each of the Dubai exits to maintain discipline (lane cutting at the exit) and ensure a smooth flow of traffic..The Shj police does a great job when they are there but its not a scalable solution. Fixing cameras on bottlenecks will ensure smooth flow. OR widen all the exits to Dubai, make them 3 lanes minimum (at present these are 1 lane)...OR make more exits to Dubai, at present the traffic get clogged, nd drivers drive very rashly
Mahen
Shj,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 11:32

I am staying in abu shaghara for the past 4 years, traffic is a real problem people are facing and the rules are meant to be obeyed by all the people while in a traffic, entering bridges, signals etc are becoming a race or competetion some cars just come directly to the end of the traffic and enter as if they are traffic regulators the other are keep on wating in the traffic for a long time. Also the sharjah police service compared to Dubai police is still needed to be improved.
Alexander
sharjah,India
Posted: April 13, 2008, 11:18

We would like to know what we doing for parks and greenery in the city, there is no open spaces. In case of earth quake places like Abu Shugara or Al Nadha would be worst hit. As it has hardly any open space. Why doesn't the municipality advise a certain gap between two building? This also violates the living standards the muncipality is talking about.
Amjad
sharajah,U.A.E
Posted: April 13, 2008, 11:00

I do appreciate the move from the sharjah municipality. People who are coming from Shj. Airport to Dubai by crossing kalba road is just 300 meter away from Dubai road. But there is no chance to cross directly to Dubai. It should be either through National Paints R/A or Dhaid road which will take 45 to 60 mnts. If the connecting road is there then it will take only just 1 minute to reach Dubai and many people can pass by Khawneej Area to various parts of Dubai. Hope Municipality will take necessary measures to build this road without further delay.
Bobby
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 10:46

1.Public Transport. 2.Lot of people parking vehicles on road. 3.If i keep my vehicle in queue to U turn, others skip and enter first. 4. Look at rolla on thursday and friday where are the taxis and any other sort of transport? 4.Pickpocketting and robbery is common. 5.If you had an accident, you have to wait 1 or 2 Hrs for police to reach.
jayanth
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 10:45

The first major issue to be sorted out in Sharjah is the shifting of used cars as early as possible. The next issue is that all major roads should be provided with signals rather than roundabouts. Another important issue is regulating the traffic at peak hours by police. Drainage facilities are not good in Sharjah, which we have seen during the last rainy days. Many parts were logged with water for more than a week. If all these issues are addressed at an early date, Sharjah will become the best city in the UAE.
PSV
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 10:25

First and foremost, we should tackle the problem of traffic congestion. This can be done by changing the timing of schools and government offices. Schools should operate from 9am to 3pm, the same as government officials. Secondly, all new buildings should be built with parking and people staying in that building should be charged for parking reasonably by owners. Thirdly, used cars business should be diverted to remote areas. It is high time the municipal authorities took their jobs seriously and undo all the wrong things happening in Sharjah and make Sharjah a peaceful and safe place to live.
Shobhana
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 10:20

I think people in charge of developing Sharjah don't really know what they are doing.
Alketbi
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 10:20

I request the authorities to have a look at the situation near National Paints after 4pm. Not a single taxi wants to go to Alwadha. Presently, hefty fines are levied for carrying more than two passengers from National Paints. Meter taxi should be allowed to carry four persons. Or buses should be introduced.
Vinod
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 09:42

To be honest, the transport authority in Sharjah is lagging. The congestions on National Paint R/A and the latest bottle neck, University exit on 611 highway leading to dubai are continuing problems that need to be solved. It is an absolute nightmare and other intersections on the borders of sharjah and other emirates including Ajman are the same. I think the federal transport authority should do something about this because obviously we are getting nowhere!
Wael
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 09:42

I live in Sharjah.The most irritating thing is, despite municipalty knowing about the poor infrastructure, why on earth is it allowing new building construction??(Abu shaghara,King Faisal st.)where traffic and people are already in excess and there are no civic facilities. Why is the municipalty moving at the snail's speed to ease residents problems?
Moiz
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 09:38

Are there any new plans to reduce the traffic congestion at the National Paints Roundabout? Many new building projects are coming in this region and it will be more traffic issues at the roundabout. A traffic signal at the roundabout can ease the situation to a long way.
V.B.SAJEEV
Sharjah - National Paints,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 09:35

I just wonder when does the municipality plan to install streetlights in the Al Shwaiheen area (behind Rolla Bank Street)? I have been living there for quite a while now, but there is no sign of street lights.
Kapil
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 09:03

The plans are very good, but the implementation and realisation of these plans is a different story. Right now, as a resident of Sharjah, i don't see any improvement, despite announcements and press releases.
Dante
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 09:01

- All roundabouts to be converted to signals. - More police to be available to tackle traffic. - Rents to be stabilised.
giridhar
sharjah,uae
Posted: April 13, 2008, 08:36

First of all, before giving permission to construct residential towers, authorities should think whether proper infrastructure facilities are available in an area. For example, proper roads to exit from an area. Currently, if there is an emergency, you may not get assistance in time.
Sriram
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: April 13, 2008, 08:26