Installing fire detectors in houses mandatory by law

The Cabinet, under the chairmanship of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has approved a Resolution that obliges residential homeowners to install fire detector devices and subscribe to the Civil Defence e-system.

The Resolution is in line with the government efforts and the leadership’s keenness to protect the lives and properties of the UAE citizens and residents, provide the highest amount of public safety, and protect society from fires hazards as well as the loss of life and property.

From 2018-2019, the UAE registered several fires in homes and residential buildings, which caused the death of 68 people in addition to many material losses, despite the efforts made to reduce fires.

Home fires accounted for 66 per cent of the total number of building and facility fires in 2019, with the same percentage in 2018.

The Resolution will be applied to all existing residences or those to be built, as it stipulates that all homes owners must install fire detectors and subscribe to the e-system of the General Directorate of Civil Defence.

The Resolution stipulates that the federal or local government departments concerned with issuing licences for the construction of residential homes must ensure that fire detectors are installed and the owner has subscribed to the e-system, before granting a completion certificate.

The Resolution also grants the owners of existing homes a period of up to three years from the issuance of the Resolution to amend the conditions in line with its provisions.

It will boost safety and security levels in homes that will be licensed for construction, by enhancing their building requirements to include the installation of fire detectors.

The federal and local governments will bear the costs of installing these devices in homes for people with limited income, and the federal government has previously covered these costs for homeowners who receive social assistance from the Ministry of Community Development.

The Ministry of Interior, through the Civil Defence Departments, will carry out the provisions of the Resolution and cooperate with all concerned parties to facilitate implementation procedures at all levels.

UN’S 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Mariam Hareb Almheiri, Minister of State for Food Security, was a guest speaker at a virtual meeting of G20 food and agriculture ministers that took place on Saturday, September 12, 2020.

Convened to discuss food and water security concerns during and post-COVID-19, the event that hosted ministers from the world’s top 20 economic nations focused on a variety of issues, including the importance of free trade, responsible investments in agriculture, food loss and waste, and the role of technology in ending global hunger.

Included on the meeting agenda was how the world’s growing population is increasingly urbanised and interconnected, with food and water security issues having profound implications for global communities’ wellbeing, economic growth and the ability to cope with environmental and health challenges, including natural disasters, biodiversity loss and disease.

“By 2050, the world’s food production and supply networks will need to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people, meaning they will have to produce food to meet demand that will be 60% greater than it is today. Ensuring adequate nutrition, water and sanitation for this growing number of people during a time of climate change, drought, and increasing desertification is in itself a momentous challenge, but it is one that has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Almheiri.

The G20 meeting saw the agriculture ministers reaffirm the commitments made in their Ministerial Statement on April 21, 2020, when they agreed to cooperate closely and take concrete actions to safeguard global food security and nutrition. It also saw them recommit their respective governments determination to meet the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasising that free trade and unimpeded movement of goods and produce across borders is the cornerstone to meeting the world’s water and food security needs.

WAM