Dubai: The Marine Agency of Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has been abolished due to scaling down of several marine transport projects.
The scope of the Marine Agency has been reduced to a department which will work under the RTA's Public Transport Agency (PTA) which also operates public buses and supervises taxi services in the emirate.
Now, the water transport including water buses, water taxis and the traditional abra service will also come under the supervision of the PTA.
The move came after the issuance of a decision by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai's Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council, to revise the organisational chart of the RTA.
The Marine Agency will now be called Marine Transport Department. Gulf News had reported last week that the RTA has scaled down its ambitious marine transport project and shelved plans for its much publicised public ferry service project following delays in the offshore marine development projects due to the global financial crisis.
Challenges
An official had said that implementation of the RTA's strategic plan has been revised to face the challenges of uncertainty in onshore and offshore developments. The new Marine Department will comprise commercial marine transport studies, marine operation and maintenance, and marine projects sections. As per the decision, names of several PTA departments have also been changed.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA said: "The restructuring decision comes in line with the strategy of the Dubai Government aiming at developing [the] marine transport sector to enhance the competitive edge of the emirate at the global level."
He said the decision was taken after a comprehensive study carried out by a team of the RTA's restructuring team with the aim of upgrading its operational efficiency, to promote the integration of mass transport systems and ensure optimal utilisation of human resources.
Following the decision, the PTA now comprises seven departments.
Branched out
According to its newly revised organisational chart, the RTA now comprises three support Sectors: Strategy and Corporate Governance, Corporate Administrative Support Services, and Corporate Technical Support Services. It also has five operational agencies: Traffic and Roads Agency, Public Transport Agency, Licensing Agency, Rail Agency and the Dubai Taxi Corporation.
