Amid the sand dunes deep in the desert outside Al Ain, hundreds of labourers are hard at work on a project the Abu Dhabi Government hopes will change the face of living in the emirate.
As cars roll down a track past hundreds of partially completed sand-coloured mansions, one of Abu Dhabi's first environmentally friendly Emirati homes looms into view.
The 1,022-villa Al Ain Ghareba scheme, being built by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) and the developer Sorouh, is part of the first Emirati housing project designed to comply with the Government's environmental Estidama standards.
"With the Estidama villa prototype in Al Ghareba we are implementing principles that are imperative for sustainable community development," says Mohamed Al Khadar, the executive director for development review and Estidama at UPC, at the new villa's unveiling.
"We know that existing residential areas in the emirate use a substantial percentage of Abu Dhabi's energy and water resources.
"By building sustainable homes that comply with the Estidama Pearl rating system requirements, we not only create healthier, resource-efficient, comfortable and environmentally friendly communities, but villa owners may see a better return on their investment."
Fahad Al Ketbi, the chief commercial officer at Sorouh, points out some of the innovations in the building.
"The natural ventilation capacity of this house is 25 per cent better than the average," he says, standing in one of the villa's ample living spaces. "There are thermostats in each living area and bedroom to optimise the use of air conditioning and reduce energy consumption."
Certainly, two years after Abu Dhabi's Estidama green building scheme became mandatory and nearly a year after the Government announced a swathe of new publicly funded environmentally friendly Emirati housing, the prototype villa can boast some pretty green vital statistics.
All the homes in the development will be built to Estidama Pearl level two. This means that as well as improved ventilation and more energy efficient air conditioning, the villas also benefit from increased natural daylight.
That means much less floor area needs to be illuminated by artificial light during the day. Water usage is 30 per cent lower than average due to the use of low-flow taps, while energy performance is 20 per cent lower than average due to more efficient window fittings and a solar water-heating system that produces about 80 per cent of the overall hot water needs.
Moreover, the developers say all the insulation materials are free from ozone depleting materials, 20 per cent of construction materials are procured regionally and 50 per cent of construction waste will be sent for recycling. Al Ghareba has been designed so that each villa will be located within a maximum of 350 metres walking distance to parks and community facilities to promote exercise, while open spaces and paths are shaded to encourage residents to walk and cycle even in the hot summer months. Bicycle racks are to be installed in each villa as standard.
It's impressive stuff, although when The National was shown around the prototype villa, despite it being broad daylight outside, all the lights were on.
Still, as UPC officials freely admit, developers are coming at environmentally friendly building from a fairly low base."One of our biggest achievements here is that half of all construction waste goes to be recycled," says Edwin Young, the Estidama programme manager at UPC. "Last year we would have dumped that in the desert. "
Abu Dhabi's Estidama system has five levels of compliance with Al Ghareba's Pearl level two rating the second to lowest. So why, on its own projects, does the Government not insist on developers building to the maximum standard?
"Building to a higher Pearl rating would cost a lot more," says an official who does not wish to be named. "Also the whole Estidama system is very new, so it's a question of baby steps."
Future Estidama levels are likely to include more stringent requirements for energy saving and could include measures such as smart systems that reduce air conditioning automatically when homes are less than full.
Despite the emphasis on thinking green, officials agree that Al Ghareba and other national housing projects exist mainly to increase the supply of affordable homes for Emiratis and to provide public-sector work for property developers hit by the global financial downturn.
For Abu Dhabi's two largest developers - Sorouh and Aldar, which is in the process of handing over 4,857 villas at Al Falah near the capital - such public sector works form an increasingly important part of revenues.
Sorouh said this month that net profit was up 55 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. "Revenues from national housing projects increased to Dh607 million [US$165.2m] from Dh68m" in the third quarter last year, it said.
Aldar's third-quarter net profit rose 43 per cent to Dh206m.
From UPC's point of view, such schemes provide the perfect opportunity to implement its fledgling green guidelines.
In the end, of course, there is little the developers can do to ensure occupants of these villas stick to the environmentally friendly way of living that UPC and Sorouh hope to encourage.
"Nobody's ever done an Estidama village yet," says Mr Young.
"Next year they will all come on stream so eventually we'll see what the real behavioural pattern is. But I would love to see somebody walking to school rather than being driven. I would love to see people walking to the mosque. That's what it's all about."
One of the teething troubles for developments such as Al Ghareba is that a number of other green measures proposed by the Government have not yet been initiated.
In 2008, the Centre for Waste Management was created to "establish a world-class sustainable waste management system to divert polluting waste away from landfill disposal and maximise resource recovery", according to the agency's website. But the developers recognise it is a long road to fulfil that vision.
"The bins we've got outside here are bins for the future," says Mr Young. "We've future-proofed these bins because the Centre for Waste Management [systems] aren't there yet.
"So what we do is we leave space for three bins. So in the future when recycling becomes more prevalent here, people will be able to separate out composting waste as well as the recyclables like glass and cardboard they already separate.
"It doesn't exist at the moment but in two or three years it will."
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
THE BIO
Favourite holiday destination: Whenever I have any free time I always go back to see my family in Caltra, Galway, it’s the only place I can properly relax.
Favourite film: The Way, starring Martin Sheen. It’s about the Camino de Santiago walk from France to Spain.
Personal motto: If something’s meant for you it won’t pass you by.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Fatherland
Kele Okereke
(BMG)
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
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Griselda
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Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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ICC Intercontinental Cup
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (captain), Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Saqlain Haider, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Naveed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Boota, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed
Fixtures Nov 29-Dec 2
UAE v Afghanistan, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Ireland v Scotland, Dubai International Stadium
Namibia v Netherlands, ICC Academy, Dubai
