Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Tours Rain-affected Areas, Says Integrated Plan is in Place to Repair Damage

His Excellency Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, toured a number of areas, federal roads, and dams in the eastern coast that were affected by the unprecedented rainfall that the UAE experienced in April. The aim of the tour was to review work progress in rehabilitating these areas and improving the efficiency and integrity of dams and roads.

The Minister directed to maintain these areas to ensure the safety of the people, protect their properties, and mitigate the damage that can be caused by rain recurrence. He learned about the rock berm project that serves as a radical and permanent solution to future-proof vibrant federal roads in the eastern coast.

His Excellency Al Mazrouei noted that work is in progress in preparing a thorough study of dams' need for expansion. The Ministry, in collaboration with its strategic partners, is working on developing the infrastructure and improving its resilience to floods and rain. This includes building efficient rainwater drainage network and increasing the capacity of dams to contain large volume of water.

He said: "The Ministry has put in place an integrated operational plan to repair affected federal roads and set up precautionary measures to ensure the continuity and preparedness of rainwater drainage network. We are working diligently on developing a host of solutions that can mitigate the damage caused by rain events in the winter season."

Towards the end of the tour, the Minister underscored the importance of future planning and collaboration between federal and local entities to improve the efficiency of and future-proof infrastructure and dams. He expressed his gratitude to all teams from the federal and local government, the private sector, and community members who offered their support and helped speed up the recovery after the extreme floods.

Due to the unprecedented rainfall that the UAE experienced in April, the 103 dams and lakes run by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure collectively retained 40 million cubic meters, representing 50% of their total storage capacity that amounts to 80 million cubic meters.