ABU DHABI // Bereaved expatriates have been discouraged from burying their dead due to the state of the emirates Christian cemeteries.
"I always tell people to go and look at the cemetery before making a decision," said Vivian Albertyn, the director of Middle East Funeral Services. "Personally, I discourage it."
Mr Albertyn said most chose to have the remains of loved ones shipped home, a bureaucratic process that could be expensive.
"I try to encourage cremation because its cheaper for them," said Mr Albertyn, but facilities are limited: there are no crematoriums in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, although there is a wood-fired crematorium in Sharjah.
"The only other option is the Hindu crematorium in Dubai, where the owners are happy to accommodate non-Hindus whose relatives wanted them to be cremated there," Mr Albertyn said, adding the facilities are clean and dignified. However, the deceased must have been a resident of Dubai and the crematorium refuses to dispose of the bodies of children under the age of five.
Because stillborns must get a proper burial, the UAE's Christian cemeteries contain a high number of foetuses and babies.
"The vast majority of the burials that happen are for small children," said the Rev Stephen Wright, who is the head of the Anglican chaplaincy in Dubai. "They're too small to cremate and its too expensive to send their bodies abroad."
Shipping a body home can cost up to Dh25,000 (US$6,800) while cremation and shipping costs about Dh15,000, which is about the same as the cost of a burial in the UAE.
In most of the cases Mr Albertyn's company has handled, the deceased had suffered a heart attack. Two-thirds had been repatriated. The other third were cremated with the remaining few buried in the Christian cemeteries.
Rev Wright said the committees that oversaw the cemeteries were in the middle of restructuring and, a result, the plots had not been maintained for about two years.
"I wouldn't like to be there," he said. "Its not as green as it is in England and not as manicured as it is in the United States. Its desert and as plain and simple as that."
@Email:jgerson@thenational.ae
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
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SPECS
Mini John Cooper Works Clubman and Mini John Cooper Works Countryman
Engine: two-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 306hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: JCW Clubman, Dh220,500; JCW Countryman, Dh225,500
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Eyasses squad
Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)
Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)
Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)
Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)
Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)
Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)
Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)
Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)
Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).