Small town life needs big city conveniences, say residents of Al Marmoom

Residents of Al Marmoom area off the Dubai-Al Ain road complained that they do not have parks and proper roads. Satish Kumar / The National

DUBAI // Small-town life might be easy-going, but it is not always easy, according to residents of Al Marmoom.

Located off the Dubai-Al Ain road about 40 kilometres from Dubai, next to the emirate’s camel racing track, the town is made up of dusty, narrow roads with a few grocery shops.

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But families who live there hope all that will change once their concerns are raised at the Federal National Council.

“It’s a small area,” said Saeed Al Mazrouei, a 29-year-old jockey. “We have a school but this is a small town and it’s far from the city.”

He hoped a shopping mall would be built to meet residents’ daily needs. “If we want something we have to go to the city,” said Mr Al Mazrouei.

“We need a small mall, we only have a small supermarket and it’s not enough. We usually go to Dubai to get what we need.”

The town’s first pharmacy opened only two months ago. “We were so happy about it,” said Mr Al Mazrouei.

“It’s so important, especially when you have children, because you can’t go to hospital for small things like Panadol or creams. You usually have to drive for 20 minutes.”

A children’s play area was also needed, he said. “My uncle has four children and he has to take them to the outlet mall to play. They get bored and we have to take them to Dubai Mall every time, which could take up to 40 minutes if there is traffic.”

Awad Al Hamiri, a 34-year-old policeman, echoed these sentiments.

“We need a small mall for children to play in,” said the father of four. “My children are aged 13, 12, 10 and four, and I have to take them to Bab Al Shams, the outlet mall, or into the desert to play, which is far, but what can we do?”

He said a stadium or a football pitch would help in the children’s development. “They sometimes get bored in the town but I take them to Dubai Mall every Friday and Thursday after school, or to the outlet mall for the cinema, lunch and dinner.

“We don’t even have a cinema here. It’s good for them to be entertained.”

Said Al Hilli, 49, said although the situation was better than it had been five years ago, residents were looking for improvements to the infrastructure.

“The roads are very narrow from the homes to the highway,” he said.

“There is also a lot of traffic and we are really afraid when we take our children to school in Dubai because the roads need to be wider and have at least two lanes. Most have only one.”

Mr Al Hilli’s six children attend Dubai National School, about 40km away.

But, said Mr Al Hilli, “the main point is we need a small mall here, with a Carrefour Express, for instance”.

“We travel to Dubai on the highway to get to a mall and it takes time, there is daily traffic and the children get tired. It can take up to an hour in the car sometimes.

“You need everything at your disposal and only the mall can provide this,” he said.

“We only have about 50 baqalas in my town for 2,000 people. It’s not enough because they don’t have what we need, like fish or fresh vegetables. The mall is our only way to find these items.”