Sun, sand, sex - why Dubai's strict code is a sham

Source: New Zealand Herald, 17 May 2010.  Written by 'William Butler' a pseudonym for a writer who lived in Dubai for four years. 
The article, unlike so many others, is the viewpoint of someone who's lived here, not just flown in for 3 days and immediately become an expert.   While some quotes in the article are just too convenient, he appears to know what goes on here, and he knows (possibly too much) about the topic he discusses.
Its also the first time I've seen anyone write about the Dubai phenomenon of the "Summer Bachelor";  the married man left on his own in Dubai while his wife and family returns to the home country for the Northern Hemisphere school holidays.  Ye Gods, another summer looms here and no woman, even an old one, will be safe.  Scene last summer: empty Costas, me at table reading WWE wrestling magazine and drinking my coffee.  A bloke with coffee in hand approaches, "Can I sit here?" as he indicates the seat next to me.  I look around at the otherwise deserted coffee bar, think "*%^$!" but smile, "Sure" I say.  As he plonks his middle aged backside on the seat I pick up my bag, coffee and wrestling mag and move to a table on the other side of the room.  Maaaaate!  Anyway here's the article:
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The bosomy blonde in a tight, low-cut evening dress slid on to a barstool next to me and began the chat: Where are you from? How long are you here? Where are you staying?"
I asked her what she did for a living. "You know what I do," she replied. "I'm a whore."
As I looked around the designer bar on the second floor of the glitzy five-star hotel, it was obvious that every woman in the place was a prostitute. And the men were all potential punters, or at least window-shoppers.
While we talked, Jenny, from Minsk in Belarus, offered me "everything, what you like, all night" for the equivalent of about $1000.
I turned down the offer.
This was not Amsterdam's red-light district. This was in the city centre of Dubai, the Gulf emirate where Western women get a month in prison for a peck on the cheek; the Islamic city on Muhammad's peninsula where the muezzin's call rings out five times a day drawing believers to prayer; where public consumption of alcohol prompts immediate arrest; where adultery is an imprisonable offence; and where mall shoppers are advised against "overt displays of affection", such as kissing.
Ayman Najafi and Charlotte Adams, the couple recently banged up in Al Awir desert prison for a brief public kiss, must have been very unlucky indeed, because in reality Dubai is a heaving maelstrom of sexual activity. It is known by some residents as "Sodom-sur-Mer".
Beach life, cafe society, glamorous lifestyles, fast cars and deep tans are all things associated with "romance" in the fog-chilled minds of Europeans and North Americans.
And there is a fair amount of legitimate "romance" in Dubai. Western girls fall for handsome, flash Lebanese men; male visitors go for the dusky charms of women from virtually anywhere. Office and beach affairs are common. But most of the "romance" in Dubai is paid-for sex, accepted by expatriates as the norm, and to which a blind eye is turned - at the very least - by the authorities.
The bar where "Jenny" approached me was top-of-the-range, where expensively dressed and coiffured girls can demand top dollar from wealthy businessmen or tourists. Virtually every five-star hotel has a bar where "working girls" are tolerated, even encouraged, to help pull in men with cash to blow. But it goes downhill from there.
At sports and music bars, Filipinas vie with the Russians and women from the former Soviet republics for custom at lower prices. In the older parts of the city, Deira and Bur Dubai, Chinese women undercut them all in the lobbies of three-star hotels.
It is impossible to estimate accurately the prostitute population of Dubai. But what makes Dubai prostitution different is the level of acceptance it has by the clients and, apparently, the city's Islamic authorities. Although strictly illegal under United Arab Emirates' and Islamic law, it is virtually a national pastime.
I have seen a 15cm-high stack of application forms in the offices of a visa agent, each piece of paper representing a hopeful "tourist" from Russia, Armenia or Uzbekistan. The photographs are all of women in their 20s seeking one-month visas for a holiday in the emirate.
Maybe young Aida from Tashkent will find a few days' paid work as a maid or shop assistant while she's in Dubai. But most nights she will be selling herself in the bars and hotels and the immigration authorities know that. So must the visa agent, who gets his cut out of each £300 visa fee.
All UAE nationals are entitled to a number of residence visas, which they routinely use to hire imported domestics, drivers or gardeners. But they will sell the surplus to middlemen who trade them on to women who want to go full-time and permanent in the city. The higher the social and financial status of the Emirati, the more visas he has to "farm".
Thousands of women buy entitlement to full-time residence, and lucrative employment, in this way. Three years in Dubai - the normal duration of a residence visa - can be the difference between lifelong destitution and survival in Yerevan, Omsk or Bishkek.
It also ensures a convenient supply of sex for Emiratis. The other big category of punters is Europeans and Americans, and it is remarkable how quickly it all seems normal.
A few drinks with the lads on a Thursday night, maybe a curry, some semi-intoxicated ribaldry, and then off to a bar where you know "that" kind of girl will be waiting. In the West, peer group morality might frown on such leisure activities, but in Dubai it's as normal as watching the late-night movie.
In the long, hot summer, wives and families escape the heat by going to Europe or the US, and the change that comes over the male expat population is astounding. Middle-aged men in responsible jobs - accountants, marketeers, bankers - who for 10 months of the year are devoted husbands, transform in July and August into priapic stallions. Tales are swapped over a few beers the next night, positions described, prices compared, nationalities ranked according to performance. It could be the Champions League we are discussing, not paid-for sex.
In my experience, many men will be unfaithful if they have the opportunity and an expectation that they will not be found out. For expats in Dubai, the summer months provide virtual laboratory conditions for infidelity.
There is the Indonesian maid who makes it apparent that she has no objection to extending her duties, for a price; the central Asian shop assistant who writes her mobile number on the back of your credit card receipt "in case you need anything else"; the Filipina manicurist at the hairdresser's who suggests you might also want a pedicure in the private room.
Sodom-sur-Mer is flourishing. But would-be snoggers beware - your decadent behaviour will not be tolerated.

Mice in a Maze

So we all thought we had 'Dubai Decency' figured: kissing is illegal, public displays of affection (known here as "PDAs") are illegal and can result in jail and deportation, hand holding is frowned upon but "tolerated" if the couple are married etc etc.  But now the Gulf News reports on a couple who've been acquitted of public indecency and they weren't just holding hands or wearing shorts in public, they were having %& in their car in a suburban street.  The trusty '7 Days' had a field day describing the 'frisky couple' as being caught 'romping' in, wait for it, their Honda Accord. Two door or four door? Thank goodness the couple is young and apparently flexible, anyone else would need a hip replacement after 'romping' in a little Accord.  Aside from having a good lawyer (1)Their car had tinted windows, (2) They'd put an umbrella across the windscreen and most important (3) The 'rompers' were married to each other.
Now if this happened in Auckland, the couple would have been arrested after first being beaten up by other drivers for hogging the parking place. 
As a poster on another board said, the decency laws are so hard to understand that Dubai residents are like "mice in a maze".
Source: Gulf News
Photo: Rubberball Photos
=======================
A court has acquitted a married couple of public indecency after their lawyer argued that their tinted car, in which a policeman caught them making love, was a private place.
The Dubai Appeals Court recently acquitted the Pakistani assistant manager and his wife of committing an indecent act in public.
The Appeals Court overturned the primary judgment of one month's jail followed by deportation after the couple's lawyer Dr Riyadh Al Kabban argued that the policeman could not see them committing an indecent act in public since they were inside their car when he sneaked up on them at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR).
According to the chargesheet, prosecutors had charged the husband, 28, and his wife, 24, of public indecency, by having sexual intercourse in their car at JBR's public parking.
"The policeman breached my clients' rights and privacy and he didn't have the right [as a law enforcement officer] to peep inside the car without obtaining a permission from Dubai Public Prosecution. He testified before the Dubai Misdemeanors Court that he could not see the indecent public act because the car was fully tinted and had an umbrella at the windshield… he also claimed that he failed two times to see what was happening inside the car due to the tinting. When he failed to see the car's inside, he knocked at the window and saw the husband naked when the latter opened the window partly," argued Dr Al Kabban.
Charge dropped
Prosecutors dropped the charge of having consensual sex against the couple after they produced their marriage contract. They were only charged with public indecency.
The policeman testified during prosecution questioning that he was standing nine cars away from the defendants' fully-tinted vehicle when he noticed something suspicious inside the vehicle at around 9:00pm. He told prosecutors that he had to peep into the car because the tint and a windshield shade prevented him from seeing inside.
"That behaviour by itself is a breach of human rights and a clear violation of my clients' privacy… it's as if he walked into the couple's bedroom and caught them making love. Law enforcement procedures were carried out unlawfully against my clients. They were illegitimately arrested and without a warrant. According to article 53 of the Criminal Procedures Law, a private car is deemed private property, hence the policeman should have obtained a prosecutors' warrant to search and look into the car… what he did is considered a clear violation of my clients' privacy and rights," argued the advocate.
The lawyer asked the appeals court to cancel the deportation order and acquit the couple of the charges.
The Appeals Court judgment remains subject to appeal before the Cassation Court within three weeks.
Defence argument
According to the primary judgment sheet, the Misdemeanors Court considered that the couple was caught red-handed committing an indecent act in public. Dr Al Kabban countered that argument before the Appeals Court and based his defence on the fact that the car's full tint and the windshield shade made it a private and not a public place.
"The policeman should have obtained a written prosecutor's warrant to search the car… otherwise this will allow any law enforcement officer to walk into private places without a warrant," argued the lawyer.

UAE internet woes to continue until Friday

Source: ArabianBusiness 27 April 2010
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Repair work is ongoing on the undersea cable, UAE telco Etisalat has confirmed.  Repair work to the damaged Mediterranean Sea cable, which has caused internet problems in the UAE, will affect services until at least Friday.
And while UAE telecoms giant Etisalat has said it expects the work to be completed by April 30, a leading analyst has estimated a complete restoration of service could take until late on Sunday May 2.
The work was originally scheduled to be completed on April 20, according to rival telco du. A second deadline was set for April 27, however the Etisalat confirmed a new delay due to bad weather.
“The management committee of the SEA-ME-WE-4 cable which suffered damage in the Mediterranean Sea last week, has updated its customers on the status of repairs,” UAE-telecoms giant Etisalat said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The cable ship tasked with repairing the cable arrived on April 24 and started the repair process on April 25,” the statement continued. “A delay was experienced in this process caused by bad weather. It is now expected that the repairs will be completed on April 30 and Internet normalisation within the UAE will be seen immediately afterwards.”
However Graham Nonweiler, group managing director of global telecoms specialists Nonweiler Associates, which monitors global internet cable connectivity around the world, said that “the current best estimate for complete restoration of normal service on SMW4 is late afternoon UAE time Sunday 2nd May.”
Nonweiler added that when repairs started on Sunday April 25 the entire European section of the cable, from Egypt to France, was switched off and “this is why connectivity in the UAE took a nosedive on Sunday afternoon and has progressively got worse since then”.
He added that at present “Etisalat's broadband customers are being routed Eastwards across the Pacific in to the US, and onwards to Europe as needed. This has placed additional loading on those routes, so they too are now saturated.”
Etisalat’s statement added that it “is continuously monitoring the situation and has provisioned more capacity across different cable systems to compensate for the lost cable fibers”.

Visa rules change in the UAE....again

This article is from the 'Gulf News' dated 17 Jan '10 stating that visitors will be refused re-entry to the UAE if they take even a short trip outside the country (to Oman for example).  The article makes no mention of the 33 countries whose citizens are automatically issued with a 30 days visa on entry into the UAE with one renewal.  Has that changed now?
Or are these 'new' visa rules the same as were published in the 'Gulf News' on 10 July 2008 and 11 Nov 2009?
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Visas for visit, transit and tourism are valid only for a single entry into the UAE, said a senior official at the Ministry of Interior, adding that visitors cannot return using the same permit even after a trip to a neighbouring country.
Major General Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, Director-General of the Dubai General Department for Residency and Foreigners Affairs, told Gulf News: "A visitor needs to get a new entry permit to re-enter the country once he or she leaves the country for any destination. The new entry permit will be issued only after one month from the date the visitor leaves the UAE."
Major General Al Merri was responding to a question about visitors who face difficulties in returning to the UAE after a short sightseeing trip to Oman or after leaving in a hurry for a meeting in Bahrain.
They cannot re-enter the UAE immediately since a new visa will be issued only after a gap of at least one month.
Application
The rule applies even if the visitors leave the country before the expiry of their entry permits, he said. "They have to wait for one month before applying for another entry permit."
Major General Al Merri said this happens to some people who arrive on tourist or visit visas to see family or friends or visit the country as tourists.
"They stay here for few days and then decide to go to Oman, Bahrain or any nearby country. These people believe they can return to the UAE using the same entry permit as they stayed here only for a few days.
"They think the entry permit is still valid since they did not use it till the expiry date," he said.
Major General Al Merri said the department, however, could take into consideration any exceptional circumstances pertaining to a particular visitor. But such a decision is taken on case-by-case basis.
"We want to make it easy and enjoyable for people who want to visit our country. But they should adhere to the rules," he said.
Multiple entry
Multiple entry visas are an option for businessmen who are frequent visitors to the UAE and who have a relationship with a reputable company here.
This visa is valid for six months from the date of issue and costs Dh1,000. However, each visit must not exceed 30 days.
Visit, tourist and transit visas are only for single entry.

They call me Khalifa.

The Burj Dubai Khalifa opened last night with a light and firework display that was spectacular even by Dubai's standards.  While that was expected, what was unexpected, except to insiders, was the surprise announcement of a change of name for the tower.  No longer Burj Dubai, its now 'Burj Khalifa' after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.  The implications of the rename would not be lost on UAE residents.  Here's another view of the rename from the Chicago Tribune:
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The Burj Dubai-Burj Khalifa name change: Better change those T-shirts and caps in the gift shop--and a whole lot more.
The stunning name change of the world's tallest building from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa, announced last night at the tower's opening, is going to upset a lot of applecarts--and is likely to wind up costing a lot of people a lot of money.
Consider:
--T-shirts and caps for sale in the skyscraper's observatory, called "At The Top," and in its gift shop in the adjoining Dubai Mall are emblazoned with the words "At The Top/Burj Dubai." They're now outmoded--on the first day that the observatory is opening to the public.
--The district in which the skyscraper is located is called "Downtown Burj Dubai." It is identified as such on road signs and maps. "Downtown Burj Dubai" presumably will now become "Downtown Burj Khalifa."
--The tower's backers reportedly just spent $2 million on Burj Dubai uniforms for security and hotel personnel. How much will it cost to change the uniforms? Or might it be easier to put patches on the uniforms that cover up "Burj Dubai" and say "Burj Khalifa" instead?
Dubai's leaders must have known that problems like this were coming when they agreed to the name change, which recognizes the Abu Dhabi leader who bailed them out of their debt crisis. It appears that they were so desperate that they had no choice.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Photo: Maureen Davies

The world's tallest building opens tonight

The ceremony at the Burj Dubai tonight isn't an 'opening' rather it is, in the words of  the invitation, a "Celebration of belief and illumination of vision".  Early this morning there were security guys in dark suits (not quite MIB but you get the idea) checking the concrete supports of the highway bridge opposite Dubai Mall. 
The roads in the area will close at around 5pm, there's been no warning given to road users, so expect more weirdness than usual on SZR tonight.

Banks of floodlights will light up the Burj, these are on the road between the Burj and Emaar Square.
Here's a piece on the Burj from the UK newspaper The Telegraph.
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Life in Dubai is not for the faint-hearted. But for those who fear neither heights nor the financial crisis, the Gulf city-state is to offer an entirely new experience: the chance to spend the rest of your days hundreds of metres in the air.
The long-awaited Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building, is to open today. At 818 metres and 160 floors, it is the height of the current highest skyscraper, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, with the Eiffel Tower perched on top.
A firm of Chicago architects have designed it so that those who so wish will never have to leave, or even descend below the 108th floor.
That level is the top floor of residential apartments. For work, you can go to the offices upstairs - anywhere up to the 160th floor. To eat, you can visit the restaurant on the 122nd and to exercise, you can use the gym on the 123rd, about 440 metres up. The gym has both an indoor and, unnervingly, an outdoor swimming pool.
To prevent the high-flying yet enclosed life from becoming dull, the tower's developers have a solution - at least for the young. The Burj intends to host the world's highest nightclub, 20 floors higher still than the gym.
Since ground was broken on the project in January 2004 the tower has led to debate in Dubai that has mirrored the fortunes of the emirate.
For the company behind it, Emaar, and the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, it is a ''shining accomplishment … an icon of the new Middle East: prosperous, dynamic and successful''.
The purple prose of tourist guidebooks has already had difficulty keeping up with Dubai's transformation from an oriental souk, with picturesque dishdasha-clad residents bobbing on the creek in wooden dhows to the world capital of bling. For them the Burj Dubai has proved a challenge. ''Just damn tall,'' was the pithy conclusion of Lonely Planet.
Burj in Arabic means tower, so that the building - which is set next to the Dubai Mall and the world's tallest fountain, called the Dubai Fountain - is named less than imaginatively ''Dubai Tower''.
As the global property boom came to an end, Dubai's vision has turned to nightmare. With the emirate's fall from grace in November after admitting a multibillion-dollar hole in its finances, the Burj took on a deeper symbolism.
Its sharp spire appeared to ''pierce the bubble in the sky'', said one commentator who compared it with Ozymandias, the poem in which Shelley describes the arrogant wreckage of a long-disappeared empire.
''Outrageous, wasteful, egotistical, ridiculous,'' a journalist wrote of it after Dubai asked for a standstill on debt repayments.
The Burj's height remains officially a secret, although developers have told newspapers that it is 818 metres.
Just who will occupy the tower is a mystery due to client confidentiality. However, developers say it is sold out.

Desert safari camps flattened

Source: Gulf News 15 October 09
===========================
Unsightly debris meets the eye as you take in the vast expanse of a once-pristine desert. Toppled toilets, chunks of concrete, wooden chairs, water tanks, soft-drink cans, tyres, boxes and the remnants of what appear to have been praying rooms litter the horizon.
It's hard to imagine that only a few months earlier, this eight-km stretch, between the Margham gas field and Al Maha (Arabian oryx) reservation in Lihbab area on the Dubai-Hatta road, was home to 16 thriving desert safari camps. But razed by Dubai Municipality bulldozers, the camps stand flattened today, their ruins still waiting to be cleared.
The melee began in February this year when the municipality ordered eight tour agencies to immediately relocate their safari camps from Lihbab to Al Aweer. A rental fee, they were told, would also be exacted under the new scheme of things.
Municipal officials said the relocation programme was meant to organise the safari tour camps that had sprung up randomly.
‘Al Aweer not suitable'
Omar Abdul Rahman, Head of the Building Inspection Section at Dubai Municipality, said all safari firms were given warnings and they had the receipts to prove it.
Frustrated camp operators said even as they worked towards complying with the order, bulldozers began to level their old camps in May. Some companies said the municipality never gave them any specific dates to move out, while some said they received notices in 2005.
Hatim Nabeel, Camps Director at Atlanta Tours, said the municipality told them in 2005 to choose any location and build their camps free of any charge in contrast to the new fee-based Al Aweer location.
"Al Aweer is not suitable for camps," he said, adding that tourists were complaining. Instead of tourism being encouraged in Dubai, it is being shrunk, he said.
The Al Aweer area, the operator said, is home to snakes and scorpions with Nabeel's employees reportedly killing at least four to five snakes every day.
"Snakes and scorpions breed in the area and they live in the bushes that grow here," Nabeel said.
He said Atlanta Tours was still smarting from the forced relocation, noting that dismantling the camp for a new one may cost an estimated Dh700,000.
Clean-up issue
According to the tour operators, no original material from the camp could be recycled to lower costs. Only the camels were being relocated. "They even destroyed the mosque and the storage for soft drinks," Nabeel said.
The operators are also concerned about the clean-up issue. Abdul Rahman said arrangements were being made to remove the demolished desert waste, but declined to comment on who would foot the bill for the clean-up process.
Nabeel said the municipality had informed tour operators that they had to clean up the remaining debris or face fines of Dh50,000 if they didn't comply.
Rounding up and carting off the safari camp remnants may hit companies' pockets. Ayman Khalil, Manager of Desert Road Tours, said he estimates it may cost Dh40,000 to clean up the leftover materials from the two demolished camps under his firm.
Khalil said the total relocation loss to Dubai's safari firms was around Dh16 million at a time when the global financial crisis was still strong and tourism figures were on the decline.
"Tourists too complain about the long drive from Al Aweer to Lihbab for the safari," he said.
Another company, Arabian Team Tours, lost two camps and an animal farm worth more than Dh3 million. Mahmoud Gabal, owner of the firm, said he only received a letter that said bulldozers may knock down his camps, but the municipality gave him no specific date about moving his camps out.
Hefty losses
"What I have lost already is enough," he said, claiming that bulldozers drove over his animals, killing a number of birds and smashing their eggs. It's a pity, he said, that things should have come to such a pass when "our business boosts the economy".
Gabal said he was not keen on spending more money on cleaning up the leftover debris. In the business for years, he said this had never happened before in the industry. Three similar safari companies have since closed because of losses.
Net Tours said it lost five camps worth more than Dh5 million but refused to comment, pending the outcome of court proceedings. Ali Bu Manser, chairman of the company, said they had taken the case to court and did not want to jeopardise their position by saying anything negative about the municipality.
Required Approval
Omar Abdul Rahman, Head of Building Inspection Section at Dubai Municipality, said that to build a new desert camp, each safari company had to apply for approvals from the Tourism Department, Civil Defense and the Municipality.
He added that each authority had its own regulations; the Municipality's regulations required details like the proposed camp's sketch, the material used to set up the camp, the location and the entrance and exit of the camp. He noted that without complying with these regulations the company would not be issued a licence for its camp.
Desert Environment
Dr. Zain Al Abideen Al Sayed, Dean of Environment, Water and Energy Institute at the Ajman University for Science and Technology, said that the sand trapped in waste debris and litter during the rainy season were polluting ground water sources.
And generators used to provide camps with power were fueled with diesel, which also found its way to the underground water tanks, he said.
He noted that desert activities such as safari trips change the landscape of the desert sand dunes and natural hills which make up 74 per cent of the UAE's ecological landscape. "I am not against desert camps but I am calling for cautious desert activities," he said.
EEG Clean-up
Emirates Environmental Group is gearing up for the Clean-up UAE Campaign 2009 to be held on December 12.
To be conducted across the length and breadth of the country, targeting a variety of locations and sites, EEG said the campaign would not only clean up the environment but also "create awareness about the environment and instill a sense of responsibility towards its upkeep and well being".
In a statement, EEG said it "has led a long and hard battle to raise the banner of awareness about the immediate and long-term negative impacts of waste."
A cause for concern
Dr Zain Al Abideen Al Syed, Dean of Environment, Water and Energy Institute at the Ajman University for Science and Technology, said sand trapped in the debris during the rainy season and diesel leaking from generators that once lit up camps, were polluting the ground water. He said safari trips change the landscape of the desert, the sand dunes and natural hills, which make up 74 per cent of the UAE's ecological landscape.
What's mandatory
Omar Abdul Rahman, Head of the Building Inspection Section at Dubai Municipality, said to build a new desert camp, each safari company had to apply for approvals from the Tourism Department, Civil Defence and the municipality. He said each authority has its own regulations. The municipality's regulations required details like the proposed camp's sketch, the material used to set up the camp, the location, entrance and the exit of the camp. He said no company will be issued a licence for a camp if they do not comply with these regulations.

Burj Dubai

New tunnel opens in Dubai

Picture: A worker attempting to reach Emaar Square this morning 
(BrandXPictures)

The new tunnel under Emaar Square is open and this morning I went through it twice, neither time intentionally.  The direction sign at the roundabout that leads to Sheikh Zayed Rd has an arrow and the words "Emaar Square" on it but the sign tells lies. Instead of taking the unsuspecting driver to Emaar Square, the road veers away, dips underground through the new tunnel, emerging on the road to DIFC, well past the Marooj Rotana. As a result, I joined The Queue of The Confused to do a u-turn by DIFC, went back through the tunnel again this time appreciating the nice road surface, smooth walls, pristine beige paintwork and reasonable acoustics for the Audi. Once I was above ground again, I took a chance on an unmarked exit that looked like it led to the road that winds past the Tabreed substation. Thank goodness it was the right road. Other co-workers were also surprised to find themselves going through the tunnel. Unfortunately for one, on her return trip after doing a u-turn at DIFC, she took the wrong exit and ended up in the Dubai Mall carpark in her words "trapped like a mouse in a maze". When she finally found her way out of the carpark 20 minutes later, she somehow ended up on the overpass heading towards Al Khail and having to start the whole thing again.
No doubt everything will be completely different again tomorrow.

Dubai wealth fund under stress

Source:Al Jazeera and agencies
=====================
Istithmar World, the sovereign wealth fund of Dubai, is reported to be considering a halt to investments as it undertakes an overhaul of its operations.
Istithmar is one of the flagship companies of state-owned Dubai World, whose real-estate unit Nakheel is seeking to refinance $3.52bn Islamic bonds maturing in December.
The overhaul could lead to the sale of the fund or its assets, the news agency Bloomberg said.
Istithmar, run by David Jackson, said recently that John Amato and Felix Herlihy, its co-chief investment officers, were leaving the firm to explore other opportunities.
Jackson's job is also under review, the Bloomberg news agency said quoting people.
However, Dubai World said on Friday that Jackson would continue to lead the company.
"Reports that ... David Jackson had left the company were incorrect," a company spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.
Reversal of fortune
A restructuring by Istithmar and its parent Dubai World may mark the most public reversal of fortune for a state-controlled investment firm since global credit markets seized up in 2007.
Dubai World has $59bn of liabilities, a large proportion of the Gulf emirate's total debt.
The company, which owns Barneys New York, hired an advisory firm in August to help it explore options to shore up the US luxury chain's financial position.
Dubai World is also trying to persuade bank creditors to restructure up to $12bn of its loans, an indication that the emirate is starting to grapple with the challenge posed by its $80bn-plus debt pile.
Bankers close to the talks say Dubai World is gauging interest from about 10 banks for a restructuring of outstanding syndicated debt and bilateral loans for the holding company as well as Nakheel and Istithmar.
Recovery signs
Hit hard by the credit crisis, Dubai, one of the UAE's seven emirates, is showing signs of recovery on the back of global economic optimism.
However, restructuring Dubai's government-linked debts remains a top priority as the government seeks to assure a rebound for its trade, tourism and services-focused economy and recover from the precipitous property crash.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Robin Amlot, managing editor of CPI Financial, based in the emirate, said: "Dubai is not oil-rich. It's a service economy. And as all service economies it has suffered in the global retrenchment that we have seen in the last two years.
"And what has happened with Istithmar World is an extension of that.
"They invested in banks, yacht marinas, Las Vegas property, Barneys high-end fashion in New York - all of which have been vulnerable areas.
"We are not staring into the abyss anymore. Business is still carrying on, companies are starting to hire again. The thought that we were going to fall into a black hole is falling away."

Samsung Burj claim denied

Despite this 'sort of' denial of the 'sort of' claim, I think there's more to this story than meets the eye. Time will tell.

================================
Source: The Korea Herald

Samsung Corporation Engineering & Construction Group, the firm helping build the world's tallest tower for developer Emaar Properties PJSC in Dubai, did not seek legal advice for a claim against Emaar from Al Tamimi & Co., the law firm said.
"All Tamimi & Co. can confirm is that Samsung have never sought advice for any claim against Emaar relating to the Burj Dubai or otherwise," Lisa Dale, head of the law firm's real estate and construction practice said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
"In the case of the Burj Dubai project we understand that the relationship between Emaar and Samsung is excellent," it added.
Samsung may sue Emaar for $4.1 billion relating to work the Korean contractor carried out on the world's tallest tower in Dubai, Construction Week reported Aug. 1.

And another:

Source: Construction Week

A top contractor employed on the Burj Dubai has sought legal advice for a mammoth US $4.1 billion (AED15 billion) claim related to work it carried out on the world’s tallest tower, Construction Week can reveal.
Korean giant Samsung Engineering & Construction sought advice from UAE-based law firm Al Tamimi & Company, according to the Legal 500 2009: Europe, Middle East & Africa, published by UK-based Legalease.
All three parties concerned in the Legal 500 report have refused to discuss the possible multi-billion-dollar claim further.
When contacted by CW, a senior associate with Al Tamimi’s construction and engineering division, whose colleague dealt with the case, said: “Other than the information disclosed in Legal 500, my colleague informs me he would not be able to add anything.”
An Emaar spokesperson rubbished the claims, saying only that “Emaar does not respond to such rumours and speculation.”
Samsung Engineering also refused to comment.
The Legal 500 report stated that: “[Al Tamimi] continue to receive important instructions, notably in the contentious segment. It recently advised Samsung Corporation Engineering & Construction Group in connection with a $4.1bn claim relating to the famous Burj Dubai Tower.”
The Legal 500 provides coverage of legal service providers and their capabilities, in over 100 countries, including the UAE. The cross-referenced service has been published for over 20 years and is internationally recognised in the legal community.
A total of $4.1 billion would represent the biggest claim ever seen in the regional construction industry by far, experts said.
Dubai-based construction law expert and Pinsent Masons partner Sachin Kerur confirmed he was unaware of any precedent involving such a large figure in the history of construction law.
An increase in the frequency of contractor’s claims against developers is connected to the Dubai government’s $10 billion bond issuance earlier this year and a belief that there is liquidity in the system, construction lawyers said.
“You may have a viable claim, the question is, can you collect?” said Michael Lunjevich, a partner at Dubai-based business law firm Hadef & Partners. “Maybe they think they can collect now.”
Contractors' association vice-chairman Imad Al Jamal agreed that cash from the bond issuance could be influencing the decision of contractors to pursue major claims.
“There is anecdotal evidence in the market that money is flowing back into the system and onto the contractors,” he said. “That would certainly be a positive for the construction industry in easing liquidity and funding issues.”
Samsung Engineering and Construction is one of three main contractors employed on the tower, alongside local firm Arabtec and Belgium-based Besix.

Possible $4bn claim on Burj Dubai

During their visit to Dubai 2-3 months ago, the gents from Seoul consulted local law firm Al Tamimi & Co regarding the Korean corporate giant Samsung's involvement in the Burj Dubai project. The first 'print' acknowledgement of what, until now, has been a hot rumour in legal circles, has now appeared on Legal 500.

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'Construction: Within Construction, Al Tamimi & Company is a third tier firm, Al Tamimi & Company lost its head of construction and engineering Edward Sunna in May 2008. It does however continue to receive important instructions, notably in the contentious segment. It recently advised Samsung Corporation Engineering & Construction Group in connection with a $4.1bn claim relating to the famous Burj Dubai Tower.'

Dhow wharf in Deira here to stay?

In the recently published article "Foreclosure on a Dream" the author makes reference to the closure of the dhow wharf in Deira in Dubai. This follows an article in The National on 6 March 09 quoting the head of Dubai Airport Free Zone Inspection Centre supporting the move of the dhows to Al Hamriya on security grounds. Four days after The National article appeared, the Khaleej Times printed an article which seems to refute it (but I say "seems" because nothing is ever certain, it could all change overnight, or at least within 4 days....)
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The executive director of cargo operations at Dubai Customs unequivocally denied on Monday media reports that the dhow wharf in the Dubai Creek would close due to security concerns.
Mohammad Matar Al Marri said the reports, which said all Dubai Creek activities would move to the base of the Palm Deira seven kilometres away, were inaccurate.
"There are studies to see the feasibility of expanding the creek's operations (to Palm Deira) but that programme is not confirmed," he said.
One customs officer, who did not want to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said there has been informal discussion for years about moving the dhow trade but there has been no concrete action.
The Dubai Creek remains a centre of significant trade between East Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and the Gulf. The wooden dhows at the Dubai Creek port recall an era when business in the emirate relied heavily on pearl and gold traders.
Today, the often brightly-painted boats are both a tourist attraction and a centre of commerce. On Saturday, tourists wearing white sneakers and cameras strapped around their necks walked around the wharf, piled high with plastic-wrapped tyres, boxes of gum that sells for Dh1 a box and cartons of soap sat on the wooden dock before shipment.
Citing an official at the Dubai Airport Free Zone, the weekend reports said security concerns prompted the imminent closure.
Much of the port's trade is with Iran, an approximately 10-hour boat ride through the Arabian Gulf.
UAE officials have stopped several shipments containing banned substances bound for Iran in the recent years.
Much of the port's trade involves shipments with Iran and East Africa, two places of particular concern for both security and smuggling reasons. While five to seven per cent of all shipments at Dubai's land, sea and air ports are inspected, every vessel bound for the Creek Port is fully offloaded first and inspected in Shindagha.
Al Marri acknowledged the security concerns associated with having an international shipping centre in the heart of historic Dubai. In an earlier interview with Khaleej Times, he expressed concern that people engaged in regional conflict would use Dubai's rapid shipping times to transit materials. Those materials could pose a threat to Dubai.
"We are in the middle of a war zone. This area has been in political unrest for the last 50-60 years" he said. "Not everyone will use that proper infrastructure developed for positive issues," he said.
In July, Dubai Customs trained its employees in detecting weapons of mass destruction and nuclear, biological and radiological components of such weapons.

Burj Dubai opening delayed

From The National 13 July 09

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The Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world, will be completed in December, three months later than scheduled, according to two contractors involved with the project.
The contractors said work still needed to be completed outside and inside the building and the new deadline was December.
A person close to Emaar Properties, the company developing the Burj Dubai, dismissed previous reports that there would be a “soft opening” on Sept 9 to coincide with the launching of the first phase of Dubai Metro. The date was never confirmed by the company, the person said. Emaar would not confirm the December opening, but said the building was scheduled to open this year.
“More details on the official launch will be provided in due course,” Emaar said.
Mohammed Alabbar, the chairman, said last June the project would be ready by September this year. Emaar has been tight-lipped over the final height of the Burj, which is thought to have topped out earlier this year at 818 metres. Some reports have suggested the building could reach 888 metres.
Burj Dubai is part of the Dh73.4 billion (US$19.98bn) Downtown Burj Dubai development.
Emaar, the largest developer in the UAE, is also expected to be chosen to manage the development of what could be the next tallest tower in the world, the 1km Kingdom Tower in Saudi Arabia.
The skyscraper is part of the Dh98.06bn Kingdom City project in Jeddah.
Emaar said last month it was in final contract negotiations to manage the entire project.

Photos of Dubai, Satwa and the Burj Dubai

Colin's taken some fantastic photos of Dubai, Satwa and the Burj Dubai development, they're here.

Concern as Dubai Demotes Finance Director

From the Financial Times 19 May '09
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Dubai on Monday night removed Nasser al-Shaikh as director-general of the department of finance, one of the most senior officials tasked with steering the emirate through the global financial crisis.

The emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ap­pointed as the new director-general Abdul Rahman Saleh al-Saleh, the national news agency reported.

No reason was given for Mr Shaikh's removal but his demotion to assistant director of external affairs at the ruler's court will prompt concern among the region's business elite and the bankers helping to steer Dubai out of the current downturn.

The highly regarded young official, who joined the department of finance only last year, was seen as one of the few who had grasped the scope of the economic problems facing Dubai.

The emirate's globalised economy has been hit hard: its hyped real estate sector has crashed, while business services sectors have suffered from the global econ­omic downturn.

Mr Shaikh had been leading efforts to pay off the emirate's debts of more than $75bn (€55bn, £49bn) accumulated during the boom years, forming restructuring plans for the economy and measures to address the government's cash crunch, which continues to leave many companies unpaid.

Mr Shaikh had been championing a more transparent approach to the emirate's finances as a means to help restore the city's credibility. He oversaw publication of the emirate's most detailed ever budget in January and was leading efforts to launch a sovereign rating for Dubai.

As redundancies rose and profits slumped, Dubai, once the toast of the global media, has been hit by an avalanche of bad news.

Mr Shaikh led the appointment of Rothschild as the government's adviser on setting up a financial fund to aid cash-strapped government-related bodies.

Dubai borrowed $10bn from the United Arab Emirates central bank in a bail-out loan, part of a broader $20bn bond programme launched in February. Half the funds have been disbursed to state-backed entities, such as the offshore developer Nakheel, to help them pay off contractors.

The department of finance issues the budget and oversees the finances of core government services, such as utilities and transport. Other commercial entities fall under the wing of government groups, such as Dubai World and Investment Corporation of Dubai, and the ruler's personal conglomerate, Dubai Holding.

UAE created 660,000 jobs in just six months (??!!)

From Emirates Business 24/7 dated 7 May '09
The statements contained in this article give an opposite view to current perceived reality in Dubai. There are no facts given to show where and in which sector/s these jobs have been created.
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The UAE economy has created in excess of 660,000 jobs in just six months and this shows the global financial turbulence has had little impact on the country's labour market, the Acting Director of the Ministry of Labour said yesterday.

Humaid bin Dimas said about 405,000 jobs had also been cancelled between October and March, far lower than the new jobs created in the same period.

"When we talk about the global crisis and whether if it has affected the labour market in the UAE and other GCC countries, I say yes because we are part of the global economy and Dubai and the UAE are part of the global system," Dimas told the Qatari Aljazeera satellite TV channel.

"This is natural that we are affected by this crisis but I can tell you the impact is limited... our figures show that more than 662,000 new jobs have been created in the UAE between October and March while around 405,000 jobs have been cancelled in the same period... this means there is an increase in jobs by an average 43,000 per month during this six-month period."

Dimas said the impact of the global crisis on the UAE job market was more psychological than physical, noting that many employers had frozen new recruitments although they have sufficient liquidity.

"This has not been confined to the UAE or the other Gulf states... it is a global practice in such conditions because of the psychological factor," he said.

"But let me ask this question: how can we talk about a real crisis in the UAE labour market at a time when it generated more than 662,000 new jobs?"

Dimas's figures showed there had been around 297,000 job cancellations in the six-month period before October 2008.

"This means we are talking about an average 50,000 job cancellations per month during that period compared with nearly 67,000 during the six-month period after October... this is not a big difference, so where is the crisis... I think this is natural because the UAE labour market is a market of 'job entry and job exit'."

According to a recent survey conducted by Emirates Business, the UAE has emerged as the largest job generator in the GCC, accounting for almost 50 per cent of the total new jobs.

The UAE is the second largest economy in the GCC and the Arab World after Saudi Arabia, with its gross domestic product peaking at Dh929.4 billion in 2008. It also has the second highest per capita income of Dh170,000 after Qatar.

The basic rules for working in the UAE

From the Australian publication "Business Spectator" 14 April '09
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The arrest and imprisonment without charge of several Australian businessmen working in Dubai should be the catalyst for shaking Australians out of their ignorance of Arab business culture.

It should help put an end to the stereotypical view that a job in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a ticket to a cushy, highly paid, tax-free position in a business environment not that different to home.

This distorted view of the UAE is perpetuated by recruitment consultants and by the custom of expatriates in senior positions hiring mates from the old boy's club.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith highlighted the Australian ignorance of Arab culture in a recent interview on the ABC's Lateline. Smith was interviewed following his direct intervention in the cases of two Australians employed by the Dubai government-owned property company Nakheel. Matthew Joyce and Marcus Lee have been in jail since January.

The Minister said he is trying to upgrade the diplomatic relations between Australia and the UAE to reflect the increased commercial links and also see what can be done to inform Australians about the very different legal and judicial systems that apply in Muslim countries.

The travel advisory for UAE issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been recently updated to highlight that an individual can be arrested and held indefinitely without charge while an investigation proceeds.

Without commenting on the circumstances surrounding the cases involving Joyce and Lee, it is obvious from discussions with sources in the Gulf region that many expatriates have little or no sensitivity toward Arab culture or the requirements for working in the UAE.

A couple of anecdotes sum it up.

There was a swaggering American executive who was employed by a property company in the UAE, but after less than three months didn't like it and decided to change jobs. He was surprised to find that he should have asked permission of his employer before doing so. He walked out on his employer as a protest and was then banned from working in that country for 12 months.
Then there was the arrogant Englishman who parked illegally outside his place of employment in Dubai. When asked to move by an Arab man, the Englishman verbally abused him. The Arab man was very well-connected and the Englishman was out of the country within two days.
In the UAE the contractual relationship between the expatriate employee and a government-owned employer is very different to the contract of employment in Australia.

The employer is effectively the employee's sponsor. The employer's name appears on the employee's work visa. The employer takes responsibility for the actions of the employee and is liable for everything from personal debts to social behaviour.

Until an employee gets a visa they can't do anything. Without a visa an expatriate cannot open a bank account sign a lease, obtain a driver's licence, get a mobile phone or rent a car.
An employee cannot change employment without the certification of the current employer.
The fundamental principle that underpins all relationships for an expatriate in the UAE is employment. Residency is tied to employment.

In fact, an employee who is terminated has a legal obligation to immediately notify the bank. This is to give the bank the opportunity to freeze the employee's accounts and ensure that all debts are paid before departing the country.

Separate to the strict rules of employment and residency are the ways of doing business, which can be hard for an expatriate to get their mind around.

The Australian way of running property development projects with verbal decisions at board meetings backed up by legally recognised board minutes and letters of intent do not apply in emirates such as Dubai.

In Dubai, all contracts have to be agreed and signed before proceeding. Variations orders must be signed and received by the client before proceeding. However, it is believed this approach was overlooked during the boom times when 'speed' was the core value of the government owned development companies.

Government-owned companies in the UAE have very powerful internal audit functions that focus on written and signed contractual terms. These internal auditors are being called upon to ensure all existing contracts are properly approved.

The concept of an implied contract does not apply in the UAE. This is particularly the case at a time when those higher up the chain are searching for people to blame for cost overruns, project problems or looking for excuses to stop work.

As Stephen Smith told Lateline, the best advice for Australians planning to work in the UAE is prevention rather than cure – to be aware of the different cultures and the different systems, “and the need for Australians to respect the judicial and legal processes of another country.”

Doing the Hokey Pokey in Dubai

Great news for Kiwis, Hey Pesto on the ground floor of building 1 at Emaar Square, (the office blocks next to Dubai Mall) sells real 'Made in New Zealand' style hokey pokey ice cream! Its there for eating in or taking away. True to memory there was creamy vanilla icecream with reasonable sized pieces of crunchy toffee - at 16 dirhams per scoop its not cheap, but what the heck. I owe this great discovery to an Australian (can you believe it, but thanks Maree).

There's been an article in the NZ Herald about hokey pokey, apparently its available in different flavours now.

Property Poker

This article by Rob Corder from ArabianBusiness.com on 9 December '08 explains "flipping".

For what some might call semi-professional property speculators and others might call amateur gamblers, the game is up. Flipping properties – the business of buying villas and apartments off-plan and then selling them before they are built – has made millions for the professionals, but is about to cost the amateurs their shirts. The problem, as with most gambling, is that it becomes addictive and destructive. The value of money changes as you win it. The descent into dangerous addiction for many of these flippers has gone something like this:

They took a punt on their first property around three-four years ago. The earliest property pioneers, who might have bought a luxury apartment off-plan on Palm Island for less than the price of a granny flat in their home country, watched the value of their investment double, treble, quadruple over the first two years.

These were typically high net worth individuals with diversified portfolios who were well-judged in taking a punt on embryonic real estate laws and a visionary development.

Word spread that easy money was being made and the amateurs poured into the market. Conditions were perfect: the market was rising fast; disposable incomes were high thanks to relatively cheap living costs at the time (yes, they really were low four years ago); and banks were ready to lend money to anybody with a reasonable salary certificate.

A gambler would probably have started relatively small, perhaps a modest apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence. But when that property doubled in value before the tower’s foundations were laid they borrowed again from the bank using the paper profits from their first apartment as collateral.

The banks were even more willing to lend because the punter had a tangible asset as security. Now the player could double-up.

A year or two later, nerves began to set in about the Dubai property market. There was a lot of talk of bubbles bursting and it seemed a good time to cash in those chips. A lot of this profit taking went on at the beginning of 2008, heralding the first signs of a correction.

But the gambler was now hooked. The original investment of 500,000 dirhams had been turned into five million dirhams, and the money was burning a hole in his pocket.

The Dubai market looked like cooling a little, but Abu Dhabi was still red hot. The time for the big play had arrived. Five million dirhams used as a down payment on off-plan property in Abu Dhabi meant the same trick he pulled a few years earlier in Dubai could be repeated in the UAE capital.

If Abu Dhabi followed the same trajectory as Dubai, reasoned the gambler, five million could be turned into 20 million or more.

Then September hit. With hindsight we might now call it the Ramadan Rout. Credit markets seized, making it impossible for property developers to find finance for future projects and individuals unable to borrow money for a mortgage or even a rent cheque.

Confidence evaporated overnight. It was impossible to track the rate property prices were falling because no transactions were taking place. Worst affected was the off-plan market because nobody wanted to buy property that might be worth less when built than it was on paper.

The loss of confidence was not contained to Dubai. Abu Dhabi was hit too. The gambler was suddenly in a cold sweat. When the developer building his properties completes the construction, he will have to find a mortgage to cover the outstanding balance of the price he paid.

But the banks are no longer lending. The properties could already be worth less than he paid for them and the banks do not want to take the risk of lending against a depreciating asset.

If he can’t secure a mortgage, the gambler is sunk and the properties will be repossessed by the developer. The only remaining hope is to sell at a fire sale price before the building is completed.

This is the picture that is being repeated across half-built real estate developments throughout the GCC, and it explains why prices have fallen so far and so fast. Thousands of speculators have to dump their properties before they are completed.

There is no short term fix that will reverse the trend. There is only a hope that prices will eventually fall so far that bottom-feeding investors return to snap up bargains.

The irony is that the same professional property dealers that made a killing on the first off-plan developments will be back to make another killing at the end.Between times, the amateur gamblers have been on an exhilarating ride, but now many are left to rue one big bet too many.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/540596-property-poker