National official gets world road federation nomination

ABU DHABI — Abdullah Salem Al Kathiri, Director-General of the Roads and Transport Sector at the Department of Municipalities and Agriculture (Abu Dhabi Municipality), has been nominated as member of the International Road Federation (IRF).

By Atef Hanafi

Published: Tue 8 Aug 2006, 10:08 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 6:05 PM

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Al Kathiri, who is the first Emirati to hold the position, said that he planned to use his position at the world body to equip engineers of Emirates with advanced training.

The federation provides some 1,200 scholarships to persons of 110 countries across the world.

It also prepares lots of training materials and programmes in a bid to improve the professional competence of engineers and technicians.

Some 1.6 per cent of the country's total local income, as per the latest statistics, is wasted due to the casualties resulting from road accidents.

This percentage is high when compared to the .75 per cent of Western countries such as the US, Britain, France and Germany, Al Kathiri said.

The shortage of roads and infrastructure does hinder all development plans.

Spending one per cent of the total local income on the road sector helps increase this income by .25 per cent, Al Kathiri said.

Being elected by the international federation is a global recognition of the prominent role being played by the Roads and Transport Authority at the Abu Dhabi Municipality, Al Kathiri said.