Authorities in Sharjah have announced plans to revamp the old areas of the city and give it a fresh and modern look while still retaining its picturesque appeal. Soon the city’s old quarter will not only be filled with museums, but will boast a hotel and a promenade too.
“Construction on the first phase of the plan includes reconnecting Saqr Souq with Al Arsa Souq, by rebuilding Al Shanasiah Souq, which disappeared as a result of building extensions in the 1970s,” Marwan Jasem Al Sarkal, chief executive officer of Shurooq, or Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, announced on Tuesday.
Construction of the ‘Heart of Sharjah’ project began last week, and the first phase is due to be completed in 2012.
As part of the first phase of the project, renovation work began last week at the Sharjah Art Foundation, in preparation for the Sharjah Biennale 2011… MORE
When Mall of the Emirates first opened in 2005, its combination of high-street favourites and luxury stores soon made it the go-to place for discerning shoppers. Bringing together designer labels such as Louis Vuitton, D&G and Gucci, its ski-sloped roof also housed the UAE’s first Harvey Nichols… But tomorrow, Mall of the Emirates will attempt to regain the designer-heeled footfall it lost to Fashion Avenue with its new extension, the Fashion Dome. With more than 30 luxury fashion outlets, 20 of which are new to the mall, the piazza-style Fashion Dome promises a return to the exclusive shopping experience it used to monopolise… MORE
Virgin Blue Holdings Limited (ASX: VBA) and Etihad Airways PJSC today signed an agreement establishing a commercial partnership that will enable Virgin Blue’s international arm, V Australia, to launch direct services to Abu Dhabi in 2011 and the two airlines to offer a joint network of more than 100 destinations from October 1, 2010.
Together, Etihad and V Australia will move towards a total of 27 weekly services between Abu Dhabi and Australia – including double-daily services between Abu Dhabi and Sydney, daily Melbourne-Abu Dhabi flights and six frequencies per week between Abu Dhabi and Brisbane.
V Australia will operate three Sydney-Abu Dhabi services per week from February 2011 and three Brisbane-Abu Dhabi services per week by February 2012, using its new fleet of three-class Boeing 777-300ER and becoming the first Australian carrier to operate to the Middle East since 1991.
From October, Virgin Blue Group customers can access Etihad’s network of 65 destinations across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Subcontinent. All Virgin Blue services will be available to Etihad customers, opening up 45 destinations in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, and to Asia, South Africa and Los Angeles… SOURCE
Eighty of 100 water samples analysed by a Dubai laboratory this year have tested positive for the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, scientists said yesterday.
Legionella pneumophila is particularly common at this time of year, when the summer heat boosts its ability to grow in air-conditioning systems and in water tanks and fittings… MORE
Tourists visiting the Burj Khalifa have told how dozens of people “began to cry” after being stranded on the building’s observation deck for over an hour.
At the Top, a visitor attraction located on the 124th floor of the world’s tallest building, is temporarily closed to the public following “technical issues with the power supply” but is scheduled to reopen on Sunday, February 14.
A senior Dubai Civil Defence official confirmed to Gulf News on Monday there was an incident at the Burj Khalifa on Saturday evening.
The official said: “This is a minor case; it was not serious at all. Staff members at the Burj Khalifa handled the situation perfectly. Our role was to ensure the safety of the public. It is absolutely normal for a new building to face minor issues such as this, which involved one of the Burj Khalifa’s elevators.”
Gulf News spoke on Monday to several tourists who were stranded on the observation deck for over an hour on Saturday.
Michael Timms, a 31-year-old telecommunications engineer from the US, said: “I was walking around the observation deck when I heard this really loud noise and what looked like smoke or dust coming out from one of the elevator doors. There were at least 60 people on the deck at the time. Employees and security staff were telling people that everything was ok. But once it became clear we were not being allowed back down, some people got really angry while others started crying.”…SOURCE
Dubai today unveiled a sweeping US$10 billion (Dh36.7bn) rescue package from the Abu Dhabi Government that will allow Dubai World to deal with a slew of immediate financial obligations, including a $3.5bn Islamic bond that is due today.
Will the Palms Ever Be Completed?
The move ends months of speculation about how Nakheel, a developer owned by Dubai World, would pay off the sukuk amid declining property values and a slowdown in sales that left it virtually bereft of revenues.
It also represents by far the most direct and explicit support of Dubai to date by the Abu Dhabi Government in the wake of the financial crisis. The crisis battered property values in Dubai and slowed its ambitious growth plans as it struggled to find a solution to a crippling debt load that has been estimated at $85bn, a total greater than Dubai’s annual GDP…MORE
The Palm Jumeirah is not sinking into the sea, contrary to speculation in recent days, a Nakheel executive says.
“The proof is in the pudding,” said Shaun Lenehan, the head of Nakheel’s environment department. “The Palm is intact. If there were subsidence, you would see cracks in the buildings, windows popping out. We have no evidence of that happening.”
But the US$12 billion (Dh44.07) island has settled slightly since it was created, in line with all artificially created land masses, Mr Lenehan and other engineers said.
Is Atlantis Destined to Sink?
He was responding to claims from a landscape surveyor speaking at a conference in Qatar, who was quoted as saying that the Palm Jumeirah was sinking by an average of 5mm a year and might flood in the future if ocean levels rose. The engineer cited satellite images of the island taken periodically over the past few years…MORE
The engine of the black Corvette revved to a gasket-popping roar. Its driver leant out of his window. He was dressed in traditional Arab robes but wore a rubber wizard’s mask. He held an aerosol aloft and directed a jet of party foam into the air. Four-wheel drives plastered in pictures of Dubai’s Royal Family roared their engines back in approval. The cacophony was deafening.
On the opposite carriageway smoke billowed from the spinning back wheels of a new Land Cruiser as the driver pressed the brakes and floored the accelerator. This was the favourite way for many of the fervently patriotic and car crazy Emiratis to mark National Day in Dubai this week, the 38th anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates, and one of the biggest celebrations of the year.
A mile away at the new Marina Yacht Club, Western expats were also working their way into a party mood. Deferential Filipino staff served a foamy lobster broth as an amuse bouche between courses. Beer and cocktails loosened tongues and a knot of dancers formed in front of the band. Tens of millions of pounds worth of powerboats bobbed at their moorings beneath the revelry on the terrace. Behind the boats a dozen skyscrapers framed the view, a few of the lights in their thousands of flats were on. “It’s so beautiful here,” said a pretty young Anglo-Indian woman clutching a large glass of chilled white wine and taking in the scene.
Welcome to the modern equivalent of the last days of Rome. The failure of Dubai World, one of the Emirate’s flagship companies, to honour a debt due last month has rocked this city state to its foundations. By any conventional logic Dubai is now a busted flush…MORE
Just ask yourself, why would you buy when the charges may be as high as 100k per year for maintenance…
Homeowners in The Cove development in Ras al Khaimah could each face service bills of more than Dh100,000 (US$27,226) a year because the developer must rely on generators to provide power to the luxury resort.
That is more than the average cost of renting a villa in the emirate, which has been beset by acute electricity shortages.
“If they are running the airconditioning during the month, they are having a bill of Dh3000 to Dh4000 a month,” said Ashraf al Agamawy, the manager of the project, which includes a five-star Rotana Hotel.
“We don’t get electricity from the Government and are running over eight diesel generators, which is very expensive.
The Cove in Ras Al Khaimah
It costs me about Dh2.5 million per month.”
The Cove was launched in April 2005 by Orascom Hotels and Development, one of Egypt’s largest developers. It comprises 78 apartments and 188 villas, 75 of which were sold under a form of timeshare agreement with the Rotana Hotel.
Under timeshare agreements, owners are allowed to use their villas for a maximum of four weeks a year…SOURCE
The Abu Shagara area in Sharjah suffered a power outage on Monday morning, sparking fears that the power snapping has come to revisit them like in August and early this month.
The frequent power outages that had badly affected Sharjah industrial areas eased during Eid Al Fitr and subsequent days, bringing residents relief. But on Monday, the power went off around 4am in Abu Shagara. It was not restored until 2.30pm, said residents.
Ajmal Hassan, who lives on the 15th floor of a building in the area, woke up in the morning to a dark apartment and wondered what had happened. “I never thought the power outage will happen again. I thought this must be a mistake, but I had paid my electricity bill. Then I opened the apartment door and found the whole floor in darkness,” Hassan said.
“I have a well-defined routine each morning. I prepare my coffee, have my shower, watch the news on television and then go for work. On Monday, I could not do that.”
Muwahib Ali said she lives in a tall tower with her family and she decided not go to work or send her children to school because they live on the 15th floor and could not use the lift… SOURCE
Two new draft laws, which will be submitted to the cabinet within two months, could see the UAE change its rule on foreign ownership of companies, Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri said on Sunday.
The minister said the UAE government was working on a new industrial law that would allow 100 per cent ownership for foreign investors in a move aimed at attracting investment in high-tech and capital-intensive industries.
The government wants to make the industrial law more attractive to foreigners who wanted to relocate their businesses to the UAE to benefit from the country’s manufacturing infrastructure.
“We must create the right environment to attract foreign investors,” the minister told reporters.
Details about the new industrial law would be announced after it is approved by the Cabinet, he said. At present, foreign investors can own only up to a 49 per cent share in a business, except in free zones, where they can own as much as 100 per cent… SOURCE
“Misuse” of the Metro by some commuters had led to intermittent service with delays at stations and causing inconvenience to commuters during the first two days of the Metro operation, an RTA official said.
Peyman Younes Parham, an RTA spokesperson, said: “Some passengers on board pushed emergency buttons to open or close the doors or just for fun and this led to delays in the train service,” he said, adding that most of the commuters do not yet know how to use the train… SOURCE
Dubai makes history with the opening of the Metro system at 9pm on Wednesday. The world’s largest automated driverless Metro system has been built by 30,000 workers at an unprecedented pace and will serve around 1.2 million passengers every day.
emand for generators has shot up in Sharjah and supplies are running out as hundreds of businesses and residential areas continue to endure power outages. Although power has been restored in most areas, power fluctuations have continued with industrial areas 1, 13, 17, and 12 worst hit during the past four days. At their peak the power problems, which began a fortnight ago, caused a blackout that affected more than 70 per cent of Sharjah… SOURCE
