Aldar Properties, the largest developer in Abu Dhabi, has joined National Catering Company in a venture to provide food and facilities management services to construction workers on Aldar's projects. Al Raha International Integrated Facilities Management will serve 56,000 construction workers living in Musaffah and Yas Island as they build Aldar's key projects at Al Raha Beach, as well as the Formula One circuit and associated facilities on Yas Island.
The partners will each hold 50 per cent in the new firm which is being established as developers across the UAE seek to tap new income streams to compensate for falling demand for new apartments and villas. Areej al Naqbi, the director of business development and non-core operations at Aldar, said the move would "ensure that we set the benchmark for the welfare of our significant workforce across the emirate".
Abu Dhabi came under fire in May when Human Rights Watch, based in New York, published a report claiming that conditions for construction workers on Saadiyat Island, a project by the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), amounted to "forced labour". The Government rejected the report, arguing that the organisation had failed to recognise its efforts to improve labour conditions in the country.
The TDIC moved to improve living conditions on Saadiyat Island with the opening of Construction Village, a workers' housing complex, in July.About 300 workers employed on the St Regis Hotel and Residences project are living in the village, which is expected to house 3,000 people by March. The complex includes sport, entertainment and healthcare facilities. Reduced investor demand hit Aldar's second-quarter net income, which fell 78 per cent compared to the same period the past year to Dh253.8 million (US$69m).
Over the next few months, Aldar is scheduled to pass several milestones, including the delivery of the facilities and hotels in time for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the end of next month. agiuffrida@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
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THE SPECS
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THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
Family: Six sisters
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The%20Beekeeper
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
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