Tuesday, 11 November 2008

National ID card: The farce continues

And the farce continues: There's a rumour going round of an extension to the 31 December deadline which has motivated the UAE government in Abu Dhabi to make an official announcement that there is *no* deadline extension and that bank account suspension will commence after the passing of the deadline.

The other recent announcement that the application forms would be available at post offices (once you pay 40 dirhams for the envelope to put them into) has proved to be a non-starter. Colin went to two post offices today. First Satwa PO: no forms available, haven't had them for a week, don't know when they are getting any and they are getting 100+ people enquiring every day. Second Rashadiyya PO: no forms available, shrugged her shoulders and told him to come back in 2 days.

We are told that without the ID card, any resident whether Emirate or expat, will be unable to access health care from 1 January 09. Does this mean that if you are hurt in a car smash they will leave you on the side of the road? If a woman is due to have a baby but she hasn't been able to get the card, will she be refused entry to the maternity hospital? Many married women in the UAE are on their husband's residence visas and will rely on his company to organise the cards but there could be a delay due to the short time frame available for communciation and implementation.

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