Dewa's $15bn plan to meet power needs

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is currently working on projects worth 57 billion dirham ($15.52 billion) to increase power capacity by the end of 2009, utility chiefs have revealed.

The authority said it aims to raise water production by 20 percent to 1.5 billion litres per day by the end of 2009 while electricity capacity would reach 7,287MW by the year-end.

Peak water demand hit 264 million imperial gallons per day in 2008 to give a reserve margin of about five percent.

Dubai should hike Salik charge to boost metro use - expert

Dubai should look at increasing Salik charges in the city when the new $4.2bn metro system opens in September, a transport expert has said.

Dr Cedwyn Fernandes, associate professor at Middlesex University, told Arabian Business on Wednesday that charging motorists extra for travelling along the emirate’s busiest highways will encourage them to use Dubai Metro.

Retail survey exposes customer service flaws

The level of customer service in Dubai's retail market is deteriorating, a UK-based company has found in its annual survey.

Based on interviews with 583 Dubai residents, business consultancy Joshua found that customer service satisfaction remains low in the emirate, with the retail sector coming out as the worst offender.

The category that saw the biggest drop in standards was staff behaviour, which only managed to score 2.1 on a scale of 1 to 5, compared with 2.8 last year.

Dubai shares rally as investors eye Borse news

Shares of Dubai Financial Market Co (DFM) surged 11.29 percent as the stock exchange's mother company, Borse Dubai, proved it would not default on a loan due for refinancing this month. 

Investors often trade DFM based on news related to Borse Dubai although the stock exchange's profits are not linked to the parent, derived rather from revenues from trading volumes the index DFMGI.

The Borse refinancing "will give confidence to investors that Dubai will be able to weather the storm, but it does not have any direct affect on DFM," said Amr Diab, head of sales at EFG-Hermes.

Dubai cancels 86% more residency visas - official figures

Dubai cancelled 86 percent more residency visas in January this year compared with the same period in 2008, official figures revealed on Tuesday. 

Data from Dubai’s Ministry of Interior Naturalization & Residency (DNRD) shows that 54,684 residency visas were cancelled during the month of January, compared with 29,418 in January 2008 - an 86 percent increase.