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Western Region of Abu Dhabi emirate to move into fast lane

This is not a fantasy, but a sincere promise made by Mohammed Hamed Al Mazrouei, director-general of the Western Region Development Council (WRDC).

Al Mazrouei is leading a roadshow throughout the Western Region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, meeting with local residents, presenting them the plans of WRDC and seeking their opinions.

On May 7, the ‘caravan’ reached Al Ruwais, about 200km from Abu Dhabi. The majlis meeting was attended by Emiratis as well as a few expatriates. Their opinions were similar to those aired by people in three other towns of the Western Region – better education, better healthcare, better roads and better social life.

“Our answers to them are very encouraging and we do stick to our words,” Al Mazrouei told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview.

According to him, there is a lot of expansion going on in Al Ruwais currently, and in the next two or three years the town will be much bigger and better.

Al Ruwais, one of the seven towns in the Western Region, was always inhabited by the Arabs from this area, but the complex town was only developed in the 1980s by oil companies.

“There are now six oil companies who share the land here,” mentioned Al Mazrouei. The 8,000-10,000 residents are a mix of Emiratis and expatriates living in 2,200 houses or apartments.

For this reason, one of the first projects that is already under way in Al Ruwais is the building of the town's first mall. Another long-overdue project is the improvement of the E11 road, which crosses the entire UAE eastern coast, from Ras Al Khaimah to Gheweifat in the Western Region.

“We are going to build an international standard highway, all the way from Mafraq to the border point,” Al Mazrouei said.

This is good news for all the residents here, including Dr Mohammed Khiev Safadi, who travels every year from Syria to work for a few months as a general surgeon in Al Ruwais hospital.

“I remember back in the 80s and 90s, when camels strolled on this road and there used to be frequent accidents, sometimes fatal,” recalled Dr Safadi.

“Now, there are fences that keep the camels away from the highway, but the road itself is in pretty bad state. This is the only exit out of the UAE, specially for the Arabs who travel by road towards the Middle East and there are only two lanes, with faded markings, bumpy surface and no street lights.”

According to him, it is specially difficult to travel at night, when E11 is congested with heavy lorries.

The development of the Western Region does not stop at new malls and better roads, though. "First of all, we want to invest in people. We want to improve their education, their health, their cultural and leisure life," Al Mazrouei stressed.

He explained that since the only university in the Western Region is the Higher Colleges of Technology in Madinat Zayed, there is an urgent need to improve the higher education facilities in this area.

"We need to get non-conventional training for people here, such as a technical institute run by Adnoc or hospitality colleges run by tourism organisations," explained Al Mazrouei.

Attracting investors is also part of the plan. "There is the sea, the desert and all the ingredients for a good formula, so plenty of opportunity for all kinds of investments,” said Al Mazrouei, adding that WRDC is strongly supporting small and medium enterprises.

Tourism, though, will be the biggest challenge for Western Region. There is 230km of beautiful coastline from Abu Dhabi to Sila which is not accessible to beach lovers. There are only two hotels along this coast and one of them is in serious need of renovation.

The situation is not any brighter in the desert either, much of it being covered by electric wires, pillars and oil drills. Even the famous Liwa oasis has just one hotel and even that is pretty shabby. But a wind of change is blowing from the east.

According to Al Mazrouei, the Western Region has great potential and WRDC has big plans for it. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is already developing tourism attractions in Sir Bani Yas and Delma islands, as well as other ‘hot spots’ in the region, with results being visible in 4-5 years’ time.

Al Mazrouei pointed out that WRDC is a young organisation, only active since September 2006 and this roadshow is one of the first major programmes undertaken by the organisation.

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