ABU DHABI // Tunnel and infrastructure works around Baynounah Street costing Dh800 million will be finished by the end of the year to meet the demand caused by thousands of new residents.
The works are 60 per cent complete on a project that includes two tunnels, Baynounah Street, its connecting roads and extensive landscaping. Each phase will open as it is completed.
Capacity on the roads will increase to 3,000 vehicles per hour - three times the current rate - for upcoming developments that include presidential palaces, hotels and commercial and residential developments in Al Bateen marina area.
Residents are making do amid the construction chaos.
Ebrahim Al Shehhi, 46, said the works would not keep him from enjoying tea at Etihad Towers.
"This is a very nice area and when this work is finished, many people will come here," he said. "We hope they will finish this work very fast, inshallah.
"When I have a business meeting I come here. When I meet friends I come here. For me, it is everything."
Traffic in the area has already increased from 600 to 1,000 vehicles per hour and it is expected to reach full capacity in five to 10 years.
The 540-metre Ras Al Akhdar tunnel will serve traffic from the Corniche U-turn to Etihad Towers, which has 884 apartments in three residential towers, office space, the 382-room Jumeirah hotel and a mall, which is scheduled to open at the end of April. Construction on the tunnel is complete.
"It's not that difficult to get here but they should have planned the tunnels ahead of time," said Masood Al Mazrooei, a businessman from Dubai. "The roads should open before the projects.
"Those who go to Emirates Palace can still get there but it takes patience."
The 700m Baynounah tunnel, at the intersection of Baynounah and Sultan bin Zayed streets, will discharge traffic from Baynounah to outside the island. It is 70 per cent complete.
Both tunnels, which are one-way with lanes, were scheduled for completion late last year but the project was expanded to include waterworks, electricity, sewage and storm drainage.
Officials postponed some of the work to allow for the completion of other construction projects in the area.
That strategy "will avoid future construction work in the area", said Adel Ali, the project manager. "Work is progressing very fast. If you drive on a street on a day-to-day basis you feel the change."
More than 2,800 construction workers from 10 countries are employed on the site, just two metres from the gates of Emirates Palace.
The widening of Baynounah Street is complete and parts are already in use.
The area will be one of the first in the city to have bus and cycling lanes plus a pedestrian-friendly design, so residents can leave their cars and start walking.
Access lanes have been minimised and four roundabouts will be replaced by junctions with signals to increase road safety and decrease congestion. A five-leg junction will become a four-point intersection.
Pedestrian crossings at new intersections will make the walk from the Corniche to Emirates Palace safer and more enjoyable, with Dh100m budgeted for walkways landscaped with fountains and foliage that does not obscure views.
There will also be a park along Zayed the First Street.
"We have to make our roads more friendly to walkers," Mr Ali said. "It takes a lot of time to get people to start walking but if you give them a good environment, people will enjoy it."
The new style of street decorations being installed, including light fixtures and kerbstones, may become a trademark look of Abu Dhabi.
"There is more space in that area for people to walk and enjoy the area," Mr Ali said. "There are areas for people to sit, relax and enjoy and playgrounds for children. The main purpose is to encourage the public to use more efficient and reliable transport, so it will give priority for the buses to move freely, on time and faster than other lanes."
For those who remain devoted to driving, there will be between 70 and 100 parking spaces and an intelligent traffic system that monitors volume to reduce congestion.
There will be Mawaqif parking on Sultan bin Zayed the First Street opposite the InterContinental hotel.
The new road will have a speed limit of 80 kph and the tunnels will have speed restrictions of 40 kph.
azacharias@thenational.ae
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The biog
From: Ras Al Khaimah
Age: 50
Profession: Electronic engineer, worked with Etisalat for the past 20 years
Hobbies: 'Anything that involves exploration, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, the sea, hiking, scuba diving, and adventure sports'
Favourite quote: 'Life is so simple, enjoy it'
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Rating: 3/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
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