AL AIN // Frustrated over a lengthy construction project that has hurt their businesses, shop owners are playing a cat-and-mouse game with city authorities by removing barriers to car parks, only to have the municipality put them back.
"Two weeks ago the municipality laid down new bricks in the car park, but has done nothing since," Ali Jaber, 48, owner of Al Safadi Restaurant said last week. "Since cars can now drive on the bricks, why is the car park still closed? At least let our customers use the parking until construction ends."
Citing sales losses of up to 90 per cent since construction of new, wider pavements and the installation of sun shades began eight weeks ago, owners of mobile phones stores, clothing shops and restaurants on Khalifa Street want Al Ain Municipality to finish the job quickly.
They say it is now is a week behind schedule, with at least 10 more days before it is finished.
When construction began in April, Mr Jaber predicted that the work near the 300-metre-long parking area, which holds up to 100 cars, would not be finished on time.
"The upgrade of Zayed bin Sultan Street was supposed to have taken only three months but it has been a year so far," he said then. "I hope that does not happen here."
On Thursday afternoon, one store owner pushed aside the barricades to the car park, which remained open throughout the weekend until the municipality closed it off again on Sunday morning.
"Business had increased by 90 per cent over the two days that the car park was open," Mr Jaber said on Sunday.
"But when the municipality sealed it again this morning, no one has been coming to the restaurant.
"Before construction began, my business was bringing in at least Dh30,000 (US$8,200) per month. Since construction began, I have only been making between four and five thousand." By Sunday afternoon one of the business owners had reopened the car park. Asking to not be identified, he said: "We have to take matters into our own hands. We have salaries and rent to pay and have been patient with the municipality for the past seven weeks.
"Enough is enough. We cannot survive like this for much longer."
Although the car park has been tiled, the pavement in front of the stores has not, meaning that those entering the businesses must walk in dust and step up nearly 20 centimetres to enter.
"The municipality is a week behind schedule, and I have been losing up to 70 per cent of my business," said Farooq Hassan, 21, the Iranian owner of Future Mobile Establishment.
"Now we are being told that we have to wait 10 more days for the construction to end, but I don't see how that is possible when there is so much work that remains to be done.
"There is no pavement in front of the store, the trees have to be replanted, lamp posts still have to be erected and the electricity to them has to be connected. It's going to take more than 10 days."
On Sunday, not a single construction worker could be seen at the half-finished car park. Instead, down the street, two other parking lots were being torn up, with construction crews uprooting trees and breaking up the pavement.
A pharmacist at Rafa Pharmacy said his business had halved.
"The situation is dangerous for all," he said. "The construction is dangerous to the business as revenue has decreased, but it is also dangerous for our customers who have to trek over broken asphalt, sand heaps and pebbles to get here."
In April, the engineer Abdullah al Ameri, director of internal roads and infrastructure development at the Department of Municipal Affairs of Al Ain Municipality, said the municipality was working towards beautifying the downtown area. He said then that all six car parks would be ready by the end of September.
"The six storefront parking areas that stretch along Khalifa bin Zayed Street between the Qasidah roundabout and the Planning roundabout will be torn up in order to widen the pavement for pedestrian traffic," he said.
"The pavement in front of the businesses there will be eight metres wide on each side of the street as opposed to the two metres it was originally.
"The trees that have been uprooted will be planted in another part of the city, and new trees of a different kind and flowers will be planted there. The new pavement will be covered to shield pedestrians from the sun. The new parking areas will be able to accommodate the same number of vehicles as before, the only difference being that the handicapped parking spaces will be widened from three metres to five and a half metres to allow those in wheelchairs better movement."
But yesterday Mr al Ameri said the project would be completed in 10 days and requested that business owners stop reopening the car park. "The car park is a construction zone," he said. "It is not safe. There are electric wires strewn, there are cavities in the ground and the ground is not even. Someone can fall and be injured.
"Whoever is removing the barriers and opening the car park is violating the law, and if someone gets hurt he will be responsible."
Mr al Ameri said he would dispatch the contractor to close the car park in a more efficient manner.
ealghalib@thenational.ae
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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
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.”
UAE Tour 2020
Stage 1: The Pointe Palm Jumeirah - Dubai Silicon Oasis, 148km
Stage 2: Hatta - Hatta Dam, 168km
Stage 3: Al Qudra Cycle Track - Jebel Hafeet, 184km
Stage 4: Zabeel Park - Dubai City Walk, 173km
Stage 5: Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet, 162km
Stage 6: Al Ruwais - Al Mirfa, 158km
Stage 7: Al Maryah Island - Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 127km
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
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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"
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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