Abdulla Kamaluddin’s house was was once at the centre of a crowded quarter of Umm Al Quwain’s old town. Now it stands alone, the land flattened around it. Redevelopment of the area has begun, with hundreds of houses marked for demolition. His is the last house standing in the eastern quarter and the writing is on its wall – the demolition date: 31/03/2018.
“We are already packed,” said Mr Kamaluddin, an 18-year-old who works at his father’s metalworks company. “We are waiting.”
Umm Al Quwain’s old city is a derelict and charming place of oleander and jasmine, littered alleyways, chicken and pigeon coops, rusted satellite dishes and streetside sofas where neighbours sit in the late afternoon.
Its redevelopment comes amid a push for modernisation in the emirate, which has a population of less than 80,000 and accounts for less than 2 per cent of national GDP. The downtown has spacious new government buildings, a mall under construction and a two-storey Starbucks that stays empty as people head to coffee houses overlooking the sea.
Development has shifted inland over the years. Emirati families have migrated from coastal towns to desert suburbs like Al Ramlah and Al Salamah, growing residential communities in the desert on either side of the E11.
The one-storey courtyard houses of the old town were built in the 1970s and 1980s and are rented by labourers and low-income families who pay Dh1,000 to Dh2,000 a month. It is one of the cheapest places to rent in the country. Although its residencies are viewed as temporary, some foreign families have lived there for generations. Most Emirati families have long since moved on.
The eastern quarter is the first to be demolished. Mr Kamaluddin’s father bought his house after he arrived from India, 40 years ago. They were informed of the decision five months ago and the family will be compensated with property elsewhere. “My friends are here and my childhood is here,” he said. “So every one of us is a little bit lost.”
The old town is on the tip of a peninsula, surrounded by sea and mangroves. No residents interviewed knew of its future plans. Some said it will be turned into hotels, others into developments that rival the Jumeirah Lake Towers or the Dubai Marina. The Umm Al Quwain municipality and the Executive Council declined to comment.
In 2011, the UAQ government launched a diversification strategy centred on heritage and eco-tourism. The old town's heritage buildings include the 18th century museum and coralstone and sandbrick buildings, which will be conserved in the redevelopment.
Residents are resigned when asked about their own future.
“I mean, I’m not a citizen of the country. I’m renting,” said Gulam Rasool, 57, a resident who lives with 20 members of his family, including children and grandchildren. He has lived in the area for 45 years.
Not everyone is content. Wherever people move, rent will double. “I’ve lived here 31 years,” said Abdulkarem Konai Miah, 48, a construction worker from Bangladesh. “There were Arabs here first, and then there were the poor.”
Mr Miah and his brothers moved into this house earlier this year when their last residence was demolished. Humble decorations make it into a home. Vines shade the courtyard. A bed’s mirror headboard and prayer mat are fixed to its outside wall for decoration.
“If you lived anywhere else five or ten or twenty years, Europe, Canada, Australia, you’d have citizenship,” said Mr Miah. “I do not. I should have citizenship but in the UAE, no.”
He will move again once demolition reaches this quarter.
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Read more:
The gentle buzz from a deserted village
Ras Al Khaimah tribe return to abandoned village
Photoessay: Al Rams, a community facing an uncertain future
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Souq shopkeepers expect demolition at a later date. “We don’t know when it will happen,” said Mohammed Ahmed, a general store owner in the old souq. “I mean they’ll do it, but when?”
Mr Ahmed’s father passed away four years ago and he has since been clearing out stock. Neighbours chat with him as he sits at his father’s desk, settling old accounts. He sits amid what’s left of the stock: bottles of dish soap, cartons of crisps, toothbrushes, tea, sickles, and brooms made of date frond.
Mr Ahmed shows no nostalgia for the past. “For me, I don’t want a thing.”
After all, even the old town was once new. About 200 years ago, people moved here from Al Sinniyah Island after the fresh water ran out. A fort was built in 1768 and the town grew around it.
“Praise be to God, God is all knowing and work goes on,” said Saif Awwad, an Emirati resident in his fifties who was born and raised in the neighbourhood. “If the houses are torn down, God will provide.”
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
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: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
