ABU DHABI // The emirate’s attorney general Yousef Saeed Al Ibri ordered prosecutors yesterday to investigate whether criminal charges should be pursued over the collapse of a landscaped residential courtyard.
Public prosecution has summoned the consultant and building contractor on the project, and the municipality’s chief engineer, for questioning. The contractor, Pivot, declined to comment.
A special independent committee will examine the site to determine the cause of the collapse, and report directly to the Attorney General’s Technical Office.
Investigators are on site at Al Rayyana development on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi city, where a 1,400 square-metre concrete slab between three tower blocks plunged one floor down into an underground car park on Sunday evening. Eight vehicles were damaged but no one was injured.
A spokesman for the project’s master developer, Sorouh, said it was working closely with the authorities in the investigation.
“We expect a preliminary report from the independent consultants in the coming days and will act immediately on the recommendations,” he said.
As a precautionary measure, the remaining courtyards and one of the children’s playgrounds in the 33-tower development have been taped off. The buildings have been evacuated and all the residents moved until the investigation is complete.
Once the preliminary investigation is carried out, the spokesman said Sorouh would carry out its own independent investigation.
“Therefore, it is commissioning a separate independent structural assessment for the entire development before people can move back in,” he said.
One of the development’s main tenants, Abu Dhabi Educational Council, said it was finding alternative accommodation for its staff. Officials said the council had no intention of returning tenants to any of the 189 apartments spread across six buildings in the development.
On Sunday night, 194 Adec staff and their families were moved to the Yas Viceroy Hotel. Adec officials met employees yesterday and said they should return to work this morning.
Ahmed Al Shamsi, general services division manager for Adec’s support services sector, said new accommodation elsewhere in the capital had been procured.
“Teachers will stay in the hotel till they move to their new apartments. New apartments have already been arranged,”
He said some staff had already been moved “to various apartments located in luxurious areas across the capital city”.
One teacher, who has been at the Yas Viceroy since Sunday night, said employees were not told about the new apartments at a meeting today.
“There hasn’t been a clue about new apartments,” he said. “They’ve denied the hotel was booked for 14 days and said we are taking it day by day.”
There were heated exchanges at the meeting, which was attended by most of the staff. “There wasn’t shouting but people were upset,” the teacher said. “Many people are traumatised and were annoyed that they wanted us to go back to work so soon. Some people were thinking of not going back until Thursday, or even on Sunday, to get over it.
“It’s not easy to think that a place you made your home for a month could have crumbled into the ground and you along with it. We now have to rebuild that trust in everything here again.”
Défense Conseil International Group, a French government-related defence company, had taken 287 of the larger flats in seven buildings on a 30-year lease, but had only 80 filled at the time of the collapse. The company has moved all its employees out of the development.
Twenty-five additional apartments were leased to a healthcare provider, Sorouh said.
The teacher said he never saw the courtyard empty in the evenings.
"Usually people were out having a cigarette on the courtyard. People would always go out on it for a chat in the evenings. I am amazed no one was on it when it fell," he said.
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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 Lost Daughter'
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
Rating: 4/5
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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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"
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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.”
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
