Tremors were felt in Dubai on Monday morning as demolition work began on an unfinished real estate project.
A thick cloud of dust rose from the former Dubai Pearl development near Media City around 11am.
Unfinished buildings in the long-abandoned project are being cleared.
Contractors using diggers and a wrecking ball have been pulling down half a dozen buildings in the area since November. Nearby residents felt tremors - which some originally thought was an earthquake.
The Pearl is located on highly valuable land adjacent to The Palm Jumeirah — which has seen a dramatic boom in property prices since the end of the pandemic.
Dubai's government owned the original land, before the development two decades ago, but it is not known what is in store for the site once cleared.
Work on the project stalled around 2011, as several investors in a complex consortium pulled out. At least 1,500 apartments and seven hotels were planned at one stage.
Two Canadian architects made global headlines last year when they proposed building an enormous resort that resembled the Moon on the Pearl site.
In September, Michael Henderson, one of the designers, told The National there were no concrete plans yet for the project, which would cost an estimated $5 billion to build.
“Within the Mena region we could see Moon being developed in either the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain or Kuwait,” he said at the time.
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. BMW%20M4%20Competition
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'Project Power'
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Rating: 3.5/5
