Quality of driver training needs improvement

Readers call for boosting the quality of driver training. Other topics: Qaddafi rule, hospital fire, marine environment

Quality, not hours of training, will improve driving skills, readers say. Lee Hoagland / The National

In reference to the news report Driving lessons to be doubled in length to improve road safety in Dubai (October 24), it's not the length but the quality of the instruction that needs improvement.

Aiysha Hurley, Dubai

What about all the people who already have licences?

Sangeetha Bhaskaran, Dubai

Qaddafi era was so much better

Any Libyan who has seen the Qaddafi era would agree that it was far better in those days than today (War-weary Libyans miss life under Qaddafi, October 18).

Ordinary people now face countless problems, from daily power cuts for long hours and sky-high prices for essential goods to shortages of medical supplies and widespread corruption. Even though it was not perfect during Qaddafi’s time, there was always money and electricity. People might not have had large salaries, but everything was cheaper, so life was simple.

The situation is so dire that even those who were previously among the richest people in the Arab world had to flee their country on migrant boats to start a new life in Europe.

The so-called revolution was based on lies. Libyans did not even know what the word revolution meant. They felt safe and secure under Qaddafi. It was not Libya’s revolution, but an American ploy to get rid of Qaddafi.

Ahmed Bleidi, UK

There is an Arabic proverb: you will never know the real value of someone until you try another. Yes, Qaddafi and Saddam were two brutal dictators, yet they managed to successfully run two of the most difficult Arab countries and deal with riots with iron fists.

No matter how bad Iraq and Libya were then, they were still better than now.

Jehad Makhoul, Dubai

Corruption real tragedy of India

When more than 20 people were killed in hospital fires in India, ordinary people could do little more than express outrage and frustration at the way things are handled in the country (Intensive care patients trapped and killed in India hospital fire, October 19). This helplessness, I think, is the biggest tragedy Indians face.

While many new hospitals are cropping up in the country, catering to a growing middle class and even foreigners looking for inexpensive and quality care, the construction codes and public safety regulations are flouted all the time.

When calamities occur, concerned authorities start trading blame and say this and that should have been done before. And it ends there.

In addition to the lapses in building codes and fire exit strategies, the widespread corruption across the country makes it impossible for code violations to be monitored.

Like many other tragedies of similar or greater magnitude, these too will be quickly forgotten. It’s a country where changes happen more on paper and in lofty speeches than in reality.

Name withheld by request

Hard to save marine life

Regarding the story People need to get under the waves to understand the marine life they're losing, experts say (October 21), one should consider the amount of rubbish dumped in the waters around Dubai.

Incessant construction activities and people’s “someone else will pick my rubbish up” attitude are taking their toll on the UAE’s marine life.

Then there are problems such as overfishing and oil dumps.

Lisa Justice, Dubai