A Dubai "community" has been reborn as residents return to a tower block devastated by fire two years ago following the completion of a Dh20 million refurbishment project.
An electrical fault in a first floor apartment sparked a blaze which tore through Zen Tower on a baking hot summer's day in May, 2018.
Thankfully, no lives were lost as wind speeds of 30 miles per hour whipped-up flames across flammable cladding that encased the 68-flat high rise in Dubai Marina.
Residents who founded a new owner’s management association expressed huge relief at finally being able to move back into their homes this week.
“It is our family home, so we are all relieved to be going back at last”, said Sherif Shamel, who will move his young family back into his eighth floor apartment this weekend.
“My children are very happy to be moving home as the youngest was born when we moved into the building in 2012.
“It is a small community, just 15 floors, so it is a better place to live than the huge tower blocks elsewhere in Dubai.
“Everyone here knows each other.”
Before we were scared a fire may come, now we feel more secure
On the day of the fire, Mr Shamel was at home with his wife when the fire alarm sounded and smoke began pouring into corridors.
“My wife started screaming and I told her just to run,” said Mr Shamel, who has three children aged 8, 11 and 14.
“There was too much smoke so we panicked and took the stairs down to safety.
“With the new cladding and other fire breaks the building will be one of the safest in Dubai.
“It is a celebration this building is now opening again.”
As the building was built in 2002, some materials used in the original construction were no longer available.
To retain Zen Tower’s original features, consultants from the National Engineering Bureau and Rose City Contracting Company painstakingly sourced near-matching materials where possible.
Contractors even developed their own paint colour in keeping with the original decor in the corridors and lobby.
“Everyone had strong memories of how the building was, so we have tried our best to restore those,” said Tariq Ali, a construction manager with RCCC.
“Children would play here and parents saw their families grow, so it was almost like restoring a museum to keep their memories alive.”
Initial reports issued by police said the fire worsened as a result of flammable furniture and high winds.
The first five floors of the building, that backs on to the Sheikh Zayed Road Abu Dhabi interchange, were worst hit forcing more than 100 residents to flee their homes.
The building smouldered for several days and water used by Civil Defence crews destroyed much of the electrics and lower floors, including the basement swimming pool and gym.
Of the 68 apartments, 39 were completely rebuilt.
Developers reduced the risk of future incidents by inserting a curtain wall to act as a fire break.
Air-conditioning and communication systems have been modernised while cladding cited as an accelerant in the blaze has been completely removed and replaced with a safer alternative at a cost of Dh1 million.
Similar flammable aluminium composite panel cladding used across the country has been blamed as a major factor in scores of tower block fires in recent years.
The most recent at the Abbco Tower in Sharjah on May 5 led to calls for as many as 150 buildings in the emirate to have similar cladding replaced.
The Seven Tides Owner Association Management was hired by residents to manage Zen Tower’s reinstatement as a residential property.
After securing building insurance, management allowed residents and owners to move back in this week but said regulations on using shisha, barbecues or balcony smoking will be much tighter.
Despite the devastating fire, residents like Alam Ihsanullah have not been deterred from living in a high-rise building.
“This is a lesson for all buildings, not just Zen Tower,” said Mr Ihsanullah, a fifth floor resident who moved temporarily into the adjacent tower to oversee the refurbishment.
“Before we were scared a fire may come, now we feel more secure.
“The majority of those staying here before are moving back.
“All of the owners are normal people like me, not tycoons, so we have been paying our own rents on top of the other costs for the past year or so.
“My family spent 10 years in Zen Tower so it is our home, we are all quite excited about moving back.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
THE BIO:
Sabri Razouk, 74
Athlete and fitness trainer
Married, father of six
Favourite exercise: Bench press
Must-eat weekly meal: Steak with beans, carrots, broccoli, crust and corn
Power drink: A glass of yoghurt
Role model: Any good man
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
