Concerns

I very much doubt if anyone actually believed that the Salik toll system introduced in Dubai this month would ameliorate overall traffic flow. No, there were some who obviously did. They were presumably in such lofty positions that either nobody dared to tell them that the scheme wouldn't work or that at a certain point there was no going back on account of the loss of face involved.

Then there was the surprise that, not only on the physical car carrying highway but also on the virtual data highway, chaos ensued. The Salik website is getting a reported million hits a day from the confused and querulous, in particular those flummoxed by the whims of the accounting system as evidenced by the text messages received by so many users (the maximum daily charge for Salik is set at AED 24; do the math).

One might presume that the systems architect responsible was confronted with the ultimate question... "Window seat or aisle?"

He may, of course, have been glad to leave. Yesterday's paper informed us that due to the rise in living costs and the increase in the value of the Rupee an Indian worker here is 30% worse off now than he was a year ago if, as probably is most often the case, he or she has enjoyed no raise in salary. Surely now, with India's economy booming, many who might have previously coveted a job in the UAE will consider staying at home instead? Those among the legion of clerks, junior and middle management employees (constituting a large proportion of the workforce) who finally decide they can't cope with a two hour commute to and from Ajman may be increasingly hard to replace.

I compare my own fate with that of my Indian colleague in the next office; it has taken full five years for me to suffer that 30% decrease in the value of my earnings when converted into my homeland (Euro) currency.

I look constantly for reasons to believe that this society, culture and economy is set fair on course and can be exemplary for the region. I hate evidence that seems to indicate the contrary. And find more and more of it. Hence, yes, concerns.