Dubai’s plan to build rest areas for delivery riders will ensure their safety and well-being on the road while also roping in the business community to play their part in workers' welfare. Adequate rest, refreshment and hydration are important for these riders as they traverse long distances to deliver products, documents and food on time.
Tenders have been floated for these facilities that would comprise restaurants, refuelling and maintenance centres, refreshment zones and even safety training areas. Of course, there will also be areas where these drivers can simply put their feet up and rest from the hard day’s (and night’s) ride under the scorching sun and while facing the headlights.
According to some estimates, the delivery sector has grown 48 per cent since 2021, and there are over 2,000 companies in the space. CSR initiatives by some companies last year helped ease working conditions for these riders but the exponential growth of app-based food and grocery services sector during the pandemic has necessitated a larger government role in not just oversight and regulation of the but also in showing how it can be done by involving the wider industry.
A public-private partnership of sorts is the way forward for the development and overall health of the delivery sector. The safety of drivers is paramount and this initiative will reduce road accidents while making the overall experience pleasant for both the customer and the delivery agent. The three such stops on the road are, therefore, a step in the right direction and could, perhaps, be a first for the region. These are part of wider reforms for the welfare of workers. Let’s make the ride safer as a community.
As countries across the world attempt to slow global warming, the switch to electric vehicles is particularly significant. But that requires wrenching change that is a death knell for hundreds of companies that make components for conventional engines. They will be obsolete in an EV world
While concerns about the geopolitical order, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have understandably been in the spotlight, water is rarely discussed outside the context of humanitarian responses to local, national, or transboundary floods or droughts
Making full amends may not be possible long after the events, but raising awareness is an achievement in itself
For starters, they can make greater use of registries linked to existing poverty-focused programmes
The best way forward might be a hybrid of in-person and remote work to ensure socialisation and daily movement. If you’re working fully remote, set up specific meetings and times to exercise that will keep you accountable and plugged in
We still have only a limited understanding of how best to integrate policy and corporate action to reduce food-system emissions while also protecting livelihoods
Human-created technology is nascent compared to the millions of years of slow incremental innovation by nature
As Biden, von der Leyen sought to find common ground, EU countries agreed to promote global phasing out of fossil fuel as they prepare for COP28 in Dubai
iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
