UAE-based Tawazun company has signed up Aecom, a global provider of professional technical and management support services, to start work on Jaheziya, its 1-sq-km safety security and disaster management city coming up in the capital Abu Dhabi.

As part of the agreement, Aecom will work with Tawazun entities - Jaheziya and Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP) - in developing the new Tawazun Safety Security and Disaster Management City at ICAD IV in Mussafah, said Jaheziya chairman Ali Mohamed Musleh Al Ahbabi, after signing the deal with Aecom vice president and resident manager Riad Zaki Al Nashef.

According to him, Jaheziya will be designed and built as an integrated disaster management city with multiple training wings and zones and support facilities including props and simulators.

Al Nashef said it was a unique and challenging project that built upon Aecom’s 50-year record of contributing to the development of the UAE and also its current works with the Abu Dhabi Government and the UAE military services.

The facility will cover all the industries and sectors with a high degree of potential hazards such as maritime, rail transport, construction, medical emergencies, aviation, industrial, CBRN and Hazmat (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and hazardous material) and fire fighting.

"Jaheziya is a very strategic project and has been perceived to evolve into the most sought-after facility both in the region and internationally for multi-agency and intra/inter agencies training in the fields of safety, security,  emergency preparedness and crisis and disaster management," noted Al Ahbabi.

"It is also the biggest of its kind in the region," added Al Ahbabi.

Tawazun Industrial Park CEO Faiz Al Nahddy said: "Being part of the Jaheziya Development Programme, we are pleased to add our project management experience to this project which will add to our national pride."

"Jaheziya is committed to leading the way in developing or enhancing the skills and sustaining the competencies of emergency responders and also in improving safety attitudes and implanting a safety culture in the workforce of the UAE and the region," he noted.

Jaheziya managing director Jamal Al Shamsi said: "Our mission is to be the preferred training facility in the region and beyond for the officials or employees of governmental, quasi-governmental, and private agencies and sectors in fields of safety, security, crisis and disaster management."

Jaheziya, he stated, was a training facility designed to re-enact and recreate past incidents and perceived future threats so  that professionals in the fields of safety, security, emergencies management, crisis and disaster management from the various agencies can train, communicate and interact with their counterparts while performing the operations in realistic settings.

It serves as a platform to provide scenario-based training of single and multiple events in various training zones.  

Tawazun CEO Saif Al Hajeri said Jaheziya was in line with the UAE government’s vision to sustain and enhance the nation’s capacity and capability to protect its communities, assets and vital infrastructure for creating a ready and resilient nation in an ever-changing world.

"Jaheziya will provide training with local and international accreditation in line with the national and global standards and will be fully operational by 2019," he stated.

According to him, Jaheziya will work hand in hand with its stakeholders to develop the new city, which will ideally offer training grounds to the armed forces, police forces and civil defence agencies.

The various ministries and municipalities, port, transport and health authorities, oil and gas, energy, construction and other industry sectors, nuclear and biological plants, and chemical factories, education councils, schools, colleges, higher education institutions, research and development (R&D) centres, humanitarian aid agencies, and non-governmental organisations will also get to utilise these facilities, stated Al Hajeri.

The new city is expected to be completely operational by 2019, he added.-TradeArabia News Service