Fishing company supervisor, ATM mechanic get metro user award

Dubai: Five frequent public transport users were honoured on Tuesday by the Roads and Transport Authority as part of the 8th edition of Dubai Awards for Sustainable Transport.

The awards were given by Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group and Chairman of the Dubai Airports.

Held annually, the award aims at encouraging sustainable transport solutions, conserving the environment, and improving the safety of transit means.

Individuals and groups were awarded across several categories for various initiatives promoting sustainable transport solutions.

Kokkatar Chacko Thomas is an Indian supervisor working for a fishing company. His job involves running around the city and he finds the metro handy for his work. “My job takes me to a number of places every day and for me the best transport is the metro. But I never thought that I will ever receive an award for using the metro,” the 50-year-old said.

The metro is the preferred mode of transport for ATM technician Najeeb Cheman Basher as well.

“The metro is a lifeline for me. I have been using it daily since it was launched and I find it very convenient for my job run as well as for errands,” he said.

Other frequent metro users awarded by RTA are Deepak Sunberdas Bhatia, Ramachandran Shetty and Hary Ram Bhandary.

Gulf News reporter Shafaat Shahbandari won the Best Journalist Award in the English section of the Media category, while Hanadi Abu Nemeh from Emarat Al Youm won in the Arabic section.

Emirates Gas won top honours in Preservation of Environment category for their initiative to facilate use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in the mobility sector.

The initiative envisages provision of CNG to potential customers as an environmentally friendly and clean alternative automotive fuel.

“We are happy that our initiative was recognised by RTA. We are working at diffferent levels to promote use of CNG, which we believe is a viable clean fuel option,” said Nader Al Fardan, general manager, Emirates Gas.

In the Mobility Management category, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) emerged the winner for their initiative of transporting employees via mass transit buses, which contributed to reducing the use of private vehicles, and encouraging individuals to use public transport.

The initiative succeeded in curbing carbon emissions equivalent to growing 30,000 trees, and took at least 7,740 vehicles off Dubai roads.

Al Murjan Kindergarten won the Transport Safety award for an initiative titled ‘The safety of Al Murjan blooms an ultimate goal of all’.

In mobility of the disabled category, the Future Centre for Special Needs won for an initiative named ‘Each child needs suitable transit means’.

The initiative charts out tailor-made plans for each student, starting from the boarding of the school bus until disembarkation. It also includes devices, aides and communication means to suit each student, and provides a suitable environment on the bus to maximise the safety of the disabled students.

Emirates Transport took top honours in the school transport category for their initiative Smart System for Students Safety in School Buses. The system aims to provide a safe and comfortable transport system for students to bring the school transportation-related accidents to zero.

In the Smart Apps category, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai won the best prize for the e-service residence system, which is part of the UAE Vision Project encompassing all electronic services. The system enables companies to submit and process their transactions round the clock, including issuing and renewing passports, changing occupation and status.

In the Academic Research category, Eyad Mohammad Sahnoon, Abdullah Mohammad Shanableh and Khalid Ebrahim Hamad from the University of Sharjah won the Best Research Award titled Masar Hamzat.

The Best Student Project Award went to the students of Technical Secondary School for their Magnetic Levitation Train project. The project was developed by Hamad Khamis Al Busaidi, Hamdan Khalid Al Masaabi and Saeed Khalid Al Hajeri.