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Convertible cars take to the streets

DUBAI - A total of 112 vehicles, including vintage cars of 1926 models, took part in the Convertible Cars Parade, one of the Dubai Shopping Festival activities organised by the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department for the second consecutive year in coordination with the Emirates Motor Sports Federation (EMSF).

The parade of convertible vehicles of all models and brands, driven by motorists of all nationalities kicked off at the Diving and Heritage Village on Thursday afternoon and ended at the Le Meridien Hotel. It was accompanied by 12 traffic officers on motorbikes in addition to the patrol cars allocated to the areas, which the parade passed through.

'The event was meant to be a fun and entertaining occasion for the entire family, as motorists were allowed to accompany friends and relatives with them. It has attracted the attention of enthusiasts from different emirates and from all nationalities, thus materialising our objective to practically translate the theme of the DSF One World, One Family,' said Colonel Saeed Mattar bin Bleilah, Director of DNRD.

Enthusiasts kept registering till the last minutes before the parade kicked off, said Lieutenant Colonel Jassim Abdul Ghafoor, Assistant Director of DNRD for the Executive Bureau Affairs, member of the DSF organising committee and head of the DNRD Welcome Team at the Dubai International Airport.

Col. Lt. Abdul Ghafoor attributed the success of the parade to the cooperation of the Dubai Police and Dubai Municipality - the two departments which assigned engineers and officers to secure the routes and ensure that the convertible vehicles decorated beautifully for the parade without any problems.

He said that the DNRD made sure to involve as many residents and visitors to Dubai as possible in this event by distributing the gifts prepared especially to welcome visitors at the airport. 'We distributed around 2,000 bags containing educational gifts and souvenirs for children, among the families that were visiting the Heritage and Diving Villages before the parade started. We have also distributed UAE flags throughout Dubai on the routes where the parade passed,' Lt. Col. Abdul Ghafoor said.

Khalid Al Malik, Director-General of the EMSF, said that the number of participants this year was bigger than the previous year. 'This year we have extended invitations to all car companies in the country to participate in this car parade,' he said, adding that the Lebanese Motor Sports Federation who is working under the flagship of EMSF in the UAE, has also taken part in the parade with six cars.

Mr Al Malik attributed the 20 per cent increase in the number of participants to the fact that the parade is being organised for the second year and people now know about it.

The registration was open to any motorist from any emirate and any nationality provided he had a valid licence and the vehicle had a valid registration and a plate number.

Highlighting the role of the federation in educating the youth about safe driving, he said that such parade could be used in the years to come to promote the concepts of safe driving among motorists in general and the youth in particular.

Mr Al Malik thanked the DNRD for the original idea of organising and supporting the parade and appealed to all motorists who wish to participate in such upcoming events to adhere to the traffic rules and regulations.

Captain Abdullah Youssuf of Dubai Police said that there were no problems as far as the parade and its routes were concerned, but admitted that a couple of motorists attempted to overtake the cars but the traffic officers prevented them from doing so.

Engineer Salah Eldin Al Marzouqi, from the Dubai Municipality was accompanying the parade and was using his mobile phone equipped with a programme developed by Dubai Municipality to open the traffic signals on the roads where the parade passed.

'I opened 38 traffic signals using this programme to ensure a smooth flow of vehicles and to avoid any possible traffic jams or hindrance,' he said.