Sheikh Mohammed Ruler of Dubai has told the emirates`s critics to ” Shut Up”

original source 7Days

Dubai Ruler tells critics to ‘do their homework’ as he stresses unity and confidence in the future

The Ruler of Dubai has told the emirate’s critics to ‘shut up’.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum yesterday broke away from a pre-prepared speech in Arabic on the Dubai economy to make his point in English.

His remark was directed at people who have tried to suggest there is a wedge between the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi after Dubai drew a $10 billion emergency loan from the UAE central bank.

But Sheikh Mohammed said these people “should really do their homework” about his country.

“I just want to tell these people who nag about Dubai and Abu Dhabi to shut up,” he told the MENA and Frontiers Conference in Dubai, organised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the prime minister and vice president of the UAE, stressed the close ties between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

“Dubai and Abu Dhabi are one,” he said, adding: “I assure you that we’ll be there for each other when we need it.”

The comments were clearly aimed at dispelling perceptions of a rivalry between the two emirates.

There have been accusations around the globe that Abu Dhabi has become jealous of Dubai’s success in recent years as it tries to diversify its economy away from a dependence on oil.

But yesterday, in rare public comments on the subject, Sheikh Mohammed stressed the tribal bonds and blood relations between the emirates’ rulers.

“We, our fathers, grandfathers have fought for the Arabian Peninsula,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “We are very, very proud of our country, very proud of our people… And our people (are) very proud of us.”

The ruler also confronted critics who say Dubai was slow to react to the global financial crisis.

He said the government “preferred to wait rather than rushing” so it could restructure state-owned companies. And Sheikh Mohammed said he
was confident the worst of the crisis was over.

“As the global economy stabilises, Dubai today is well placed to exploit its inherent strength,” he said.

“The slowdown will never dampen the mettle of children of Dubai to steam forward in the drive toward development,’’ he added.

Dubai faces a debt of about $80 billion. As well as the $10 billion loan, it expects to raise an additional $10 billion in financing before the end of the year.

more Maktoob.com

UAE collect DNA from all Residents – DNA database set to start in a year

source The National

The UAE aims to start collecting genetic samples from residents within 12 months as part of its controversial DNA database project, the programme’s director said yesterday, making it the first country in the world to do so.

Dr Ahmed al Marzooqi, the director of the National DNA Database, also said the order for millions of people to allow lab technicians to collect samples of their DNA by swabbing their cheeks would probably be given as a security directive and not require the passage of new legislation.

“The first step is to set up the infrastructure and hire the lab technicians,” he said in an interview with The National.

“This should take us approximately one year.”

Then, he said, the UAE would start collecting DNA samples from the general public, beginning with juveniles.

“The aim is to eventually have a profile of the entire population,” said Dr Marzooqi, who is also the chairman of the DNA Working Group, made up of various police forces across the Emirates.

“Our goal is to sample one million per year, which could take as long as 10 years if you factor in the population growth.”

Some officials have suggested that the DNA programme may require new legislation, which would then need to be considered by the Federal National Council.

But Dr al Marzooqi said this might not be the case.

“We are not sure if this will go through the Federal National Council or not,” he said. “It could simply be decided as a security matter and not need the legislation of the FNC.”

The legislative route seems increasingly remote given that a new government department, the National DNA Database, has already been formed within the Ministry of Interior and collection kits ordered to help the police gather genetic material.

At present, only 5,000 DNA profiles are stored, all of convicted felons.

The notion of collecting DNA samples from non-criminals has raised ethical concerns about privacy protection.

In Britain, for example, such use of DNA was contested last year in the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that Britain must purge non-criminal genetic material from its database.

The UAE has not accepted the jurisdiction of any such body.

Even attempting such a database – in which DNA is gathered from the entire population, even those who have never gone through the legal system – is basically unheard of, said Sir Alec Jeffreys, the British genetics pioneer who invented the DNA profiling system.

He expressed concern over the lack of legislation required for a national database.

“It will be interesting to see how this develops,” he said.

“How this works out will really set the scene for how other countries approach this problem. If it’s seen as a great success which the population and citizenry fully endorse, I think it will open the way for a lot of other countries going down this route.

“If it turns into a disaster for whatever reason, that will be the end of the story. You are the interesting experiment at this point.”

Dr al Marzooqi, who is also Interpol’s single Middle Eastern representative in its DNA Monitoring Expert Group, said he was aware of the project’s challenges.

“We are certain the pros will outweigh the cons,” he said. “The issue of privacy is just as important for us as it is important for the public. We will implement strict usage rules and will take secondary tests in court cases to verify the identity matches.”

Other nations could use information from the UAE’s data bank, but not access the material, he said. Treaties and other international agreements would dictate the specifics.

“If there is co-operation with the country seeking the DNA profile, we share this information through Interpol – only the DNA profile, and obviously not the sample,” he said.

Because each country may have its own database of DNA profiles, Dr al Marzooqi said, databases would not be merged with those of any other country.

“Not every country who asks will be given this information,” he said.

The database, he added, would be “instrumental in helping with unsolved crimes, identifying unknown bodies and will also be a great help in major disasters, either man-made or natural”.

Herve Jaubert fled Dubai dressed as a woman

source Arabian Business

A former French special agent who worked for Dubai World has spoken of his anger at being convicted in absence of defrauding the company out of millions of dirhams – a charge he strongly denies.

Herve Jaubert told Arabian Business of a carefully planned escape from Dubai aboard a rubber dingy and dressed in a burqa to evade police using skills he developed as a spy.

The former French naval officer, who is now living in the United States, said he is not worried about being tracked down to face his five-year prison sentence because he can prove his innocence.

“I deny everything,” he told Arabian Business during a telephone interview. “When I saw that I was convicted in absentia I was totally outraged. But no matter what the truth is going to come out eventually.”

One way he hopes to be able to do this is through his book outlining the story of his escape, which is due to be published in October.

Jaubert told Arabian Business he decided to flee the country last year after his passport was confiscated by police and he was fired by Dubai World.

“In Dubai, if you don’t have a passport and you don’t have a job you cannot survive,” he said. “I found myself in this situation. So instead of fighting it, I told the auditors I would pay them back. I did not sign anything, but I played the game.”

Meanwhile he was planning his escape. Jaubert sent his wife and children back to Florida where they had all been living before moving to Dubai in 2004, and once they were gone he went into hiding.

“Once I was alone in Dubai then I turned to what I used to do before as an intelligence officer.

“A friend would rent a room for me in a hotel with his passport so my details would never show up. I would stay in the hotel for three days and then change.

“I bought a sail boat, and then I bought a rubber dingy and I escaped on the dingy. When I was a secret agent for my country I used to do that – go in and out of countries on a rubber dingy – because no one pays attention to a rubber dingy.”

Jaubert left from a beach in Fujairah early one morning after sabotaging the only coast guard boat in the area to make sure no one could follow him.

He spent six hours aboard the rubber dingy before meeting his friend, who had sailed his boat into international waters, and the pair headed to India on a journey that took eight days.

“I’m a naval officer, so at that point I knew what I was doing,” he said.

“When I was a secret agent I was a ghost, but here it was different, I was not a ghost anymore. I decided to disguise myself as a woman and then I became a ghost.

“When you are covered from head-to-toe in an abaya and veil nobody talks to you, nobody looks at you. Wearing the abaya nobody bothered me, it’s like I never existed.

“That’s the best disguise you can find because even a police officer can not talk to you.”

Jaubert was sentenced to five years in jail and fined AED14m by Dubai Criminal Court at a hearing in June at which he was not present.

The court was told that Jaubert’s company, Seahorse Submarines, had bought equipment worth AED11.8m for Exomos, the submarine division of Dubai World, but that it did not all arrive.

Jaubert had a contract with Dubai World to build two submarines, but prosecutors told the court that when the vessels were delivered they were incomplete and faulty. He wrote to Dubai World and agreed to settle the matter by paying an initial AED3m, but he fled the country before handing over any money.

“My book is going to come out and people are going to know the true story and then I will put it behind me,” Jaubert said.

He is even confident that readers in Dubai will be able to get a copy.

“There’s no way this book is going to be available in Dubai in the open, but I’ve found a way. There will be some tricks, if you want. The book will be disguised. If you order the book you might receive a book on flowers or furniture, but it’s just a cover,” he said.

Related : Dubai Police to track down convicted sumarine fraudster

Dubai, Dubai World, Herve Jaubert, Bestseller Dubai fraud

Al Fajer Properties Dubai Court Case : Anyone can sue anyone, whether they are from the ruling family or not,’ Tamimi said.

source REUTERS March 11, 2009

Dubai court began a hearing against three members of the emirate’s ruling family after businessman sought $1.9 billion in compensation for the alleged seizure of his firm.

The claimant, Shahram Abdullah Zadeh, a Dubai-based Iranian businessman and property owner, filed the civil suit, alleging that his business had been taken over by Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, according to case documents obtained by Reuters.

The court handling the case against Al Fajer Real Estate and members of the Dubai ruling family began the trial but adjourned to April 8 after defendants did not attend.

‘We attended the session but the defendant did not attend and the session was adjourned to April 8,’ Salem Al Shaali, Zadeh’s lawyer from Al Shaali & Co, told Reuters by telephone.

Sheikh Hasher had sponsored Zadeh in line with the United Arab Emirates law which requires foreigners to have a UAE national as a partner or sponsor to carry out business activities, the documents showed.

Sheikh Hasher declined to comment by telephone or respond through email. His son and daughter could not be reached by telephone.

The suit is likely to draw wide attention as a test case for Dubai, home to many Western banks and a regional business hub.

Dubai has fashioned itself as a tourist destination and business-friendly centre for many international firms, and captured global attention by building palm-shaped islands in the sea and the world’s tallest building.

Last year, as Dubai’s booming real estate market reached dizzying heights, the emirate launched a high-profile anti-corruption campaign that saw the arrest of several well-known business figures.

But the prolonged detention of several Dubai property executives as part of the probe has been criticised by groups such as Amnesty International.

Zadeh accuses Al Fajer company, Sheikh Hasher, his son and his daughter, of involvement in the case, according to case documents. The case names the daughter, Sheikha Meryam, as a partner of the firm, and the son, Sheikh Maktoum, as a manager.

Zadeh alleged that Sheikh Hasher and Sheikha Meryam have ’seized all the company has from cash monies, movables, properties, and others’ in March last year, according to case documentation.

The seizure of the company occurred while Zadeh was held in custody of Dubai police, according to Zadeh.

‘I was arrested for 60 days on February 21, 2008 and until this day I don’t know what law I have broken, and I have not been charged with anything. I still don’t know why they have kept my passport for over one year,’ Zadeh told Reuters.

The chief of Dubai police, major general Dahi Khalfan Tamim, confirmed the arrest to Reuters by telephone and said that Zadeh was held on charges of bribery on order of the public prosecutor, charges that Zadeh denies. The public prosecutor could not be reached for comment.

Abdullah Zadeh’s lawyer, Salem Al Shaali, said he expected the case to be decided on its merits.

‘We haven’t yet seen anyone, whether from the ruling family or other, escaping the rule of law,’ he told Reuters.

Essam Al Tamimi, lawyer at Al Tamimi & Co. told Reuters by telephone that the judicial system in the UAE ‘is very independent from the government and the ruling family’.

‘Anyone can sue anyone, whether they are from the ruling family or not,’ Tamimi said.

Archive Al Fajer

The heartbreaking moment in Dubai – Marnie Pearce might be never see their children again

Source The SUN UK

Blonde Marnie Pearce, 40, had been on the run since an arrest warrant was issued against her in the Arab emirate.

The teaching assistant denies her ex-hubby’s claim she committed adultery, a crime in the strict Muslim country.

But Marnie gave herself up and is serving a three-month sentence in a harsh jail before being deported.

Her friends released the heartbreaking video of the mum handing over her sons to their Egyptian dad Ihab El Labban on the steps of the court.

UAE central bank chief in US for crisis talks – Banking & Finance – ArabianBusiness.com

UAE central bank chief in US for crisis talks – Banking & Finance – ArabianBusiness.com

The Central Bank of the UAE announced on Saturday that Governor Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi was in Washington to discuss the global liquidity crisis at meetings with world leaders.

Suweidi will attend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to mainly discuss the liquidity crunch and financial markets turmoil, especially in industrialised nations, the bank said in a statement.

Suweidi said national and foreign banks are in a “strong financial position” and that the majority of their assets are in the UAE, according to the statement.

Kippreport » Kipp’s Blog » Who is going to live in all those houses?

Kippreport » Kipp’s Blog » Who is going to live in all those houses?: “Who is going to live in all those houses?”

original published www.Kippreport.com , October 9th, 2008

Cityscape Dubai is huge, and Kipp was really impressed with the creativity and the effort put into making the stands.

But the first question we were tempted to ask was: Who’s actually going to live in these houses? While it is true that people are pouring into the city (according to official data last year, some 292,000 more people became Dubai residents in just one year), just skimming through the exhibition makes you realize that the city’s property builders are hoping to house thousands more.

As one show-goer asked us on the way back from the exhibition, once the real estate boom is over and people stop flipping properties, who is going to live here?

Any ideas?

Consolidation on the cards – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Consolidation on the cards – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com: “Consolidation on the cards”

Thursday, 09 October 2008 by Andrew White
original published Arabina Business

There was an air of unreality at last week’s Cityscape event. No change there, you might think — we have long got used to the fantastical models of contorted towers, billion-dollar figures tossed around like confetti, and outlandish announcements in which every project is declared ‘unique’ and ‘iconic’.

Yet while everybody was busy looking at the sky, craning their necks upward to the tip of Nakheel’s new mega-tower, the markets on which the Gulf’s economic foundations are set were dropping through the floor.

Over the course of a week intended to celebrate the strength of the Gulf real estate market and reassure investors spooked by the collapse of housing markets in the US and Europe, hundreds of millions of dollars was instead wiped off the market capitalisations of the region’s property players.

By the end of trading on Wednesday, shares in Emaar, the Middle East’s largest real estate company by market capitalisation, had dropped 29 percent so far that week, and 63 percent year-to-date.

In Saudi Arabia, Dar Al Arkan Real Estate was down 23 percent that week and 50 percent year-to-date, while Qatar’s Ezdan Real Estate finished down 56 percent from its early May high.

The Gulf’s five biggest publicly-traded real estate firms were down an average of 40 percent in 2008, and Cityscape week — the supposed highlight of the Gulf real estate calendar — ended up as one of the bloodiest on record.

It was reported last week that some of the scale models used at shows such as Cityscape cost real estate clients as much at $272,000 a pop.
As the markets continued to tank, the suspicion dawned that some of those scale models might actually represent a better long term investment than the towers they are meant to symbolise.

Looking forward, we may be on the cusp of a new wave of consolidation in the Gulf property market. In any other region, the Gulf’s real estate giants would be prime targets for a takeover, yet the Gulf’s strict foreign ownership rules eliminate that possibility.

Rumours of a merger between two of the UAE’s largest real estate developers surfaced last Monday and have not died away despite noncommittal shrugs from the two parties. And nor will they as long as the Gulf’s real estate titans continue to shed weight so dramatically.

In these uncertain times, investors are looking for a clear sign that such a critical sector is able to adapt to the shifting global economic climate. Even Gulf developers will be unable to reach for the sky, without first planting their feet firmly on the ground.

Andrew White is the deputy editor of Arabian Business English.

Bacteria Fears Force Part of Jumeirah Beach Closure

Khaleejtimes , October 7, 2008

read more here:

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=/data/theuae/2008/October/theuae_October152.xml&section=theuae

and Gulf News
http://archive.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/nation/10247978.html

Wine whine – Construction & Industry – ArabianBusiness.com

Wine whine – Construction & Industry – ArabianBusiness.com

by Rob Corder

The typical salary for a labourer workng in the UAE’s construction industry is 600 dirhams per month, or 7200 dirhams per year.

The cost of a bottle of Premier Cru white Burgundy in Dubai’s Buddah Bar in the Grovesnor House Hotel is 7500 dirhams.The fact that certain wine is expensive and the Middle East’s labouring class is underpaid is not news, but the gulf between the value placed on the two is staggering.

It is not the fault of the wine maker. The bottle of wine in question, produced from a single vineyard close to the famous village of Meursault, costs around 25 Euro (130 dirhams) from the cellar door.It is not the fault of the restaurant or the hotel.

They are not in the business of storing wine that will never sell. The price would not be 7500 dirhams – an eye-watering 5769 percent mark-up even when compared to retail prices in Burgundy – if customers were not prepared to pay for it.

It is not even the fault of construction companies. Labourers would not keep arriving to work in the Gulf to earn 600 dirhams per month if they did not feel this represented an improvement to their quality of life.

Most have escaped even more extreme poverty in slum areas of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.It is nothing more than a reflection of the sickening distortion of values that now pervades super-rich society in the lower Gulf.

Emiratis fear being swamped by expats – survey – Culture & Society – ArabianBusiness.com

Emiratis fear being swamped by expats – survey – Culture & Society – ArabianBusiness.com

byJames Exelby on Sunday, 05 October 2008

UAE Nationals say the fast-growing expatriate population is the greatest threat to national identity, while expatriates cite rampant consumerism, according to a survey published on Sunday.

The survey found that 60 percent of Emirati Nationals questioned felt a sense of isolation as their cultural identity became increasingly diluted by the influx of large numbers of expatriates, the UAE daily The National reported.

This compared with 71 per cent of western expatriates who felt that the biggest threat to Emirati culture and identity was the country’s “highly materialistic and consumerist society“.

Despite these concerns, however, 81 percent of the 628 respondents – Emirati and expatriate – said they “belonged in the UAE” with more than half saying that the country’s safety record was the main attraction, the survey conducted by the market-research company YouGov Siraj found.

Most of those surveyed agreed that a sense of national identity could be developed by creating a “consolidated vision across the emirates that all citizens and residents can relate to equally” and by communicating traditional values, the paper said.High rents, traffic and inflation emerged as the three main gripes with life in the UAE.

Traffic was considered the biggest problem in Sharjah, where 56 percent of those surveyed said it reduced the quality of their lives, it added.The survey found that Nationals were the most likely group to say the UAE is a good place to raise a family.
A fifth of all Asians questioned cited discrimination as a key complaint, the paper added.
Most Western and Asian expatriates said their inability to speak Arabic had not been a hindrance in their career, it said.

Ramadan 2008 a very commercial touch – Ramadan ‘business’ booming in Dubai – Middle East Times

30
30 days ACI Real Estate as WELCOME to the Ramadan Tent at the JUMEIRAH Beach Hotel

RAMADAN Co Branding 2008

Ramadan ‘business’ booming in Dubai – Middle East Times

DUBAI (AFP) Restaurant and hotel owners in Dubai are in hot competition during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan to attract a top-notch clientele to “tents” that have proved a hit in the bustling Gulf emirate.

“Dubai has over the years become one of the most cosmopolitan places and I have an international clientele,” said Rami Shehada, who runs one of around 35 Ramadan tents strewn across the city state.

“Ramadan sets the right atmosphere for our business and we take advantage of it,” he told AFP, adding that he was one of the first to bring the tents concept to the United Arab Emirates from places such as Egypt and Lebanon.

For Shehada and other restaurant managers, it is perfectly normal that the holy month should be yet another occasion to make money in a city driven by a business ethos and basking in ostentatious luxury.

Shehada’s tent, set up in a park surrounded by brand new buildings, can accommodate up to 600 people for the sundown fast-breaking meal known as “iftar.”

Customers pick and choose from an Oriental buffet and spend the evening with friends for around 100 dirhams (27 dollars, 19 euros) per head.

But they usually run up much higher bills as they select their favourite dishes from a separate menu and puff on hubble-bubbles, which are increasingly popular in Dubai despite government efforts to reduce smoking.

Tents set up aboard cruise ships charge as much as 600 dirhams (163 dollars) per person, providing a stark contrast with free iftar meals offered by religious associations, philanthropists and big firms in the city streets and around mosques.

A handful of dates, a plate of rice with meat or chicken and juice make up the menu of the charity iftars.
“I sometimes have to turn down clients, especially over the weekend,” said Shehada, boasting that his tent, sponsored by a property developer, is “the most elegant in town.”

With music blaring out of flat television screens, his customers relax on spotless white couches in the air-conditioned tent festooned with plants.
The ambiance is similar at an even more luxurious tent in a nearby five-star hotel. There, the tent has been erected around a swimming pool surrounded by some of the skyscrapers that have mushroomed in Dubai over the past few years.

The 300 available places have been booked throughout the fasting month, which began on September 1, by firms hosting iftars for their staff or clients.
The menu is even richer, with Japanese sushi and Indian curry dishes complementing an assortment of Lebanese hors d’oeuvres.

“I didn’t expect to do so well,” said Ashok Subba, the tent’s Indian manager.

“We are fully booked from iftar until suhur,” the dawn meal preceding the start of the daily fast, he said as a band prepared to play Arabic classics and waiters scurried to serve the 300 guests of a leading property developer.

Ramadan is high season for restaurants, confirmed Hamad Mohammad Hareb, an Emirati owner of a restaurant chain.

“Business is better this year despite the rise in the price of foodstuffs,” he said, attributing the success of Ramadan tents to the fact that “Dubai keeps attracting people, meaning potential customers.”

Hareb was more worried by competition than by the possible impact of the global financial crisis.
“Would you believe that 180 restaurants are going to open in the commercial centre being built around Burj Dubai alone?” he said, referring to the famous tower which has already become the world’s tallest building.

© 2008 Agence France-Presse

Flats’ rents likely to rise as sharing of villas vetoed – The National Newspaper

Flats’ rents likely to rise as sharing of villas vetoed – The National Newspaper

The cost of renting flats in Dubai and its neighbouring emirates is expected to rise following the decision to evict families sharing villas, estate agents predicted yesterday.Thousands of affluent families living in shared villas in Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim, Al Rashidiya and Abu Hail are now looking to move to flats after the Dubai Municipality announced that only one family could live in each villa.

The authority announced a 30-day deadline, ending next month, for the extra families to move out.“The rental prices of apartments are rising day by day, but the news from the municipality will definitely push them up [further],” said Wassim Tarik Malik, an agent working with Wateredge Real Estate in Dubai.

“Pushing the rental price up will also push the property value up, and this can be seen from the last couple of months.”Agents said that two months ago, a one-bedroom flat in the Dubai Marina area was renting for an average of Dh120,000 (US$32,600) a year.

Today, it is nearly impossible to find one for less than Dh140,000. “These prices will keep increasing on a daily basis now,” Mr Malik said.Bassam Abu Diwan, an estate agent with Al Masah, confirmed that a large number of clients he had seen in the past few weeks looking to rent flats were being forced to leave their villas.

“A lot of residents from The Springs and Mirdiff areas are asking specifically because of this reason,” he said. “Moving to a villa is no longer an option.”Farhan Zia, an agent with Exelet Real Estate, said: “The situation is shocking because the prices are going up by the day.”According to Mr Zia, the rise in rental prices coupled with the exodus from shared villas is having the knock-on effect of making life very hard for single people in Dubai. Estate agents are forbidden to rent villas to single people, he said, which means they can live only in flats.

“What is also difficult is that apartment landlords are asking for yearly cheques in advance, but people are now being forced to comply because there is no other alternative,” he said. “This is definitely a landlord’s market.”People living in villas in The Springs, Meadows, Arabian Ranches and Al Barsha are also being forced to move to pricier neighbourhoods such as Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence.
“It is now impossible to find a two-bed apartment in JBR for less than Dh200,000 a year,” said Mr Zia.The municipality launched the villa eviction campaign in July, slapping notices on villas in Al Rashidiya area.

This week, a 30-day final deadline was announced for all villas in Dubai. “No more notices would be issued to villas. Even those families who are sharing villas but have not received notices must move out within the deadline,” a spokesman for the municipality said. He added that once the deadline expired, violators would have their water and electricity supplies cut off, and landlords would face heavy fines – up to Dh50,000.

Charles Thornton, who shares a villa in Umm Suqeim, is unsure of what to do. “I am really scared. I do not want to move to Jumeirah Beach Residence or Dubai Marina because it’s just too expensive,” he said. “
We have started looking but it is all out of our price range, and the prices seem to be increasing too rapidly. Our villa is nice and spacious, and a lot of the apartments are much smaller and you will be paying so much more.“

What happens if they turn around and decide to throw people out of apartments for sharing?” he said.

The municipality confirmed the new rules apply only to villas, and not to people sharing flats.

Some families have already had their electricity supplies cut off. “We lived in darkness for weeks but have not managed to find another home,” said a resident of a villa in Abu Hail. He said he shared the large traditional villa with nine other families until inspectors served them notice last month. “Many have moved out but families with children have stayed because they have to think about the school transport.
Unable to bear the heat, we have moved to a hotel room,” he said.

Families are now appealing for more time to move out of their villas, and also asking for alternative accommodation. Some families living in villas also claim that they have paid several months rent in advance to their landlords, who are refusing to return the money.
However, the municipality has insisted there will be no further extensions of the deadline.

It said what people do to find alternative accommodation is not its concern.

A spokesman for the municipality added: “Families who have formal contracts with landlords can approach the rent committee and make a complaint.

However, nothing can be done for those without contracts.”

nsamaha@thenational.ae
mailto:nsamaha@thenational.aepmenon@thenational.ae

Gulfnews: Jumeirah beaches must be sewage free

Gulfnews: Jumeirah beaches must be sewage free

Gulf NewsPublished: September 26, 2008, 23:32

The tankers which clean out thousands of cess pits around Dubai are supposed to take the sewage to be treated in the city’s sewage plants in Awir and Jebel Ali.
But the vast queues of tankers at these inadequate plants force the drivers to wait for many hours.

As a result they chose to dump the sewage in the road system’s storm drains.

This then oozes out through the drainage system (which is only supposed to handle sudden rain water) and emerges into the sea.

As a result, raw sewage is washing up on beaches in Jumeirah and beyond.

It is a serious danger to people’s health, with germs having already been detected in the water used by thousands of people innocently enjoying the magnificent beaches of Dubai’s coast.

Blocking the drains is not the answer.

Stopping the dumping is imperative, particularly as the tourist season is about to start.

No slowdown in corruption fight – The National Newspaper

No slowdown in corruption fight – The National Newspaper:

Sarmad Khan
Last Updated: September 21. 2008 10:33PM UAE / September 21. 2008 6:33PM GMT

Even as Dubai’s business and financial community works to steady its ship in stormy international markets, the emirate continues to struggle with a series of internal corruption investigations likely to shape its economic trajectory at least as much over time.The global financial and equities meltdown has raised some questions about the solidity of the country’s financial and property markets. But whatever the near-term consequences, the persistent investigations underscore that fighting corruption remains a priority. “It’s a process you can’t reverse or slow down, whatever the consequences,” said Mohammed Ali Yasin, the managing director of Shuaa Securities. “Now is as good a time as any to root out corruption and finish what Dubai has started. The long-term benefits outweigh the damage the anti-corruption drive could do in the short-term.”

Dubai’s business community started hearing the reports of alleged corruption and financial misdeeds in some of biggest listed and private financial and real estate companies in April. Media broke the news that Zack Shahin, the former chief executive of the property firm Deyaar Development, had been in jail for weeks, the subject of a corruption investigation. A series of arrests since then have highlighted the underdeveloped regulatory system, an unwillingness of corporations to share information and a hush-hush approach of investigators – all of which have kept observers and investors guessing about the actual nature of alleged wrongdoing and how the bottom lines of the firms may be affected.

Yet there also appears to be a determined effort to begin addressing some of the shortcomings that have been exposed. Arrests have included chief executives of finance, mortgage and real estate firms, owners of property projects and advertising firms, private investors, top bankers, middle managers and sales executives. The message was loud and clear when the media office of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, released a Public Prosecution statement saying that “fighting corruption is at the top of the [Dubai] Government’s priorities”. The unusual public statement was the first acknowledgement that the Dubai authorities were conducting a co-ordinated series of investigations aimed at alleged white-collar financial improprieties.

Dubai has been trying to leverage its geographical location to set up a financial centre that would bridge established financial hubs in western and Asian regions. However, corporate governance, compliance, transparency, arbitration regulations, and timely and accurate disclosures are some of the stumbling blocks that have prevented Dubai from so far rivalling some of the more transparently regulated financial hubs such as New York, London and Singapore.

The deficiencies revealed by the long-running investigations so far are occurring on three fronts: internal controls, transparency and follow-through. While almost no information has been revealed concerning the details of any alleged wrongdoing, the range of companies and executives that have been swept up in the allegations has raised questions about control over and monitoring of operations. “It is really shocking why internal and external auditors could not detect what, in some cases, had been going on for months the companies,” said Wadah Taha, a senior Dubai-based analyst. “So many investigations only suggest that the internal and external auditor have not been par excellence.”

Mr Yasin said auditors, or the lack of forcefulness displayed by them, may explain some of the problems. “Auditors need to be reminded [that] they are employed by the shareholders to protect their interest,” he said. “The board pays the cheque but that does not mean they [the auditors] have loyalty with the board,” he said. According to Mr Taha, if the standards of auditing were high enough, a lot of what has surfaced could have been prevented. “They should be changing auditors every two or three years.”

Deyaar kept its investors in the dark about the investigation for almost two weeks and did not inform the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded. The Dubai Islamic Bank, the country’s largest and oldest Islamic bank, was the next to be investigated, followed by Tamweel, the private property developer Sama Dubai and state-controlled Nakheel – and all kept information away from the public for periods of time.

The most high-profile arrests so far are those of Adel al Shirawi, the former chief executive of Tamweel, and Feras Kalthoum, the former head of finance of Tamweel, which kept the news of its former top executives out of the market for more than a week. Tamweel did the same when its deputy chief executive, Abdullah Nasser Abdullah, was arrested earlier this month and waited for the media to break the news instead of informing its own shareholders.

Chairman of Khaleej Times removed from his post – The National Newspaper

Chairman of Khaleej Times removed from his post – The National Newspaper:

Bradley Hope
Last Updated: September 22. 2008 3:00PM UAE / September 22. 2008 11:00AM GMT
Abu Dhabi //

Adel al Shirawi, the former Tamweel and Istithmar World executive under investigation by Dubai authorities for financial improprieties, has been removed from his position as chairman of the Khaleej Times, officials said.Galadari Brothers, the parent company of the Khaleej Times, announced that Hussain Ali Lootah would take over his position.
Mr Lootah is the chief executive of Dubai Media Incorporated, a government-owned company that manages several television channels including Dubai One and Sama Dubai.

Mohammed al Shaibani, director general of the Ruler’s Court and chief executive of the Investment Corporation of Dubai, did not mention Mr Shirawi in his statement. Instead, he praised Mr Lootah, saying he “represents a core group of UAE nationals, who have excelled in their professional careers and are ever willing to take up new challenges to help drive the development of significant initiatives in the country”.

Two years ago the Investment Corporation of Dubai, an investment group owned by the Dubai Government, acquired a 30 per cent share of Galadari Brothers.

Four of the seven boardmembers of the newspaper are employees of companies wholly owned by either Dubai Holdings – a private company of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai – or the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

Mr Shirawi could not be reached for comment.

bhope@thenational.ae
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Tide of filth costs Dubai Offshore Sailing Club its licence – The National Newspaper

original published http://www.thenational.ae/

Tide of filth costs club its licence – The National Newspaper:

DUBAI

Dubai’s internationally renowned sailing club has lost its licence to teach and had its latest regatta spoiled after illegally dumped sewage flooded its private harbour.

The Dubai Offshore Sailing Club lost its Royal Yachting Association (RYA) accreditation yesterday after effluent dumped into a storm drain nearby flowed into the waters around the club, leaving a stench. Keith Mutch, the club’s manager, said the dumping ruined the opening regatta of the season on Friday and threatened the reputation of the club.

There were more than 200 people here and I got complaints all day about the stench,” he said. “It smelt of raw sewage. In the middle of the afternoon it flowed out of the storm water drain at the bottom of the pier.“The water had a big dark brown slick of water in it that smelt very bad.” The waste has also now washed onto a nearby public beach and the water has made several people sick. They have complained of skin rashes, ear infections and diarrhoea.

One member who used to swim here all the time has stopped because he has got several ear infections from the contaminated water,” said Mr Mutch.The problem has blighted the coast for three months but has dramatically increased this week, said Mr Mutch. “It pours in every day. We do not know where it originating from but it is seriously affecting the club and its members.” One of the members, who did not wish to be named, said: “It is only a matter of time before people get cholera or typhoid from the water. I can’t risk my daughter getting anything like that. People using the beach next to the club have no idea.”

Those on the public beach were equally upset. “I have just taken a swim,” said Claudia Kemfert from Germany. “I never expected to see something like raw sewage in the water. The quality of the beaches has deteriorated since I got here two years ago but this is horrible.” Ahmed Rashid decided against bathing with his seven-year-old son. “I don’t believe it,” he said, peering at the dark brown slick. “I am not going to get into the water. Imagine what my son could catch.” He then left.
Abdul Majeed, director of Dubai Municipality’s drainage and irrigation network, said he was ordering more spot checks to catch the dumpers, but the effort was being hampered by the complexity of the problem.Around 7,000 manholes feed into Dubai’s storm drainage system, with water exiting from four points along the coastline. Haulers dump their load into the system to avoid waiting in long lines at the city’s sewage treatment facilities.

“We try to catch them but they do it at 3am or 4am – we do not have full teams to cover night shifts,” Mr Majeed said.The Dubai Offshore Sailing Club has more than 600 members, with more than 200 on the waiting list.Independent tests on the pollution have been carried out by the club and the results are now in the hands of the municipality. The club says it hopes to replace polluted sand that has turned a dark brown. It must also send clean water samples to the RYA’s headquarters in the UK before it regains its certificate to teach.

However, Mr Mutch said the efforts could prove fruitless: “It’s a catch-22 situation for us. I want to replace the sand now but we do not know when the sewage will be stopped.”

eharnan@thenational.ae

‘Marry me for $50m or you’re dead’

original published:

zawya

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080908091342

08 September 2008

The husband of a pop diva found stabbed to death claims London police failed to act

The husband of a murdered pop diva has spoken for the first time of how she feared she would be killed by a professional hitman, allegedly hired by her former lover.

Riyadh Alazzawi has told The Sunday Times that police in London were warned of the threats to his wife, Suzanne Tamim, but failed to act. The couple spent 18 months in London living in fear.
“I was there to protect her, but was doing it all by myself,” claimed Alazzawi. “I didn’t get any help.” He said his wife’s former lover had offered Tamim $50m (about £28m) to lure her away and threatened to pay $1m to have her killed if she refused.

Alazzawi met Tamim, a beautiful Lebanese singer, in Harrods two years ago. She was already receiving some threats to her life and he, a world kickboxing champion, had offered to help protect her. The couple became close and married last year.

Six weeks ago, however, Tamim was murdered while on a visit to Dubai: she suffered multiple stab wounds and had her throat slit. Prosecutors have charged a prominent Egyptian MP and business tycoon with arranging to pay a hitman £1m to travel to Dubai and kill her. Both men may face the death penalty if convicted.

The case has caused a sensation in the Arab media with its insight into the world of Middle Eastern celebrity, power, intrigue and revenge.

This weekend Alazzawi revealed how he and Tamim were routinely followed, harassed and subjected to a series of telephone threats while living in London. He believed the threats came from the Egyptian tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa, who had previously had an affair with Tamim, and men who said they were acting on Talaat’s behalf.

“Suzanne told me that he had phoned her and said that if she left me and went to marry him he would pay her $50m. He then said that if she refused he would then kill her with $1m,” said Alazzawi.

On another occasion, Alazzawi alleged that Talaat had phoned him at the couple’s flat in Knightsbridge. “He said forget about this girl. I’ll kill her and kill you if you don’t give me the girl.” Later Alazzawi claimed he was telephoned by a man who said he had been sent to Britain by Talaat to shoot him.

In a statement to his lawyer, Shahrokh Mireskandari, made five months before Tamim’s murder, Alazzawi said: “The hitman explained he had been sent to this country especially to kill [me]. He said he was not on his own but part of a big team of people working on this.

“The hitman explained that the only reason he was doing this job was because he had been paid £50,000 already and would be paid more money after the shooting.” The alleged assassin said he had tipped off Alazzawi because he had decided not to carry out the murder.

According to Alazzawi, the couple reported these threats to the Metropolitan police. They provided officers with a tape recording of several of the telephone threats, including one from the alleged hitman.

Officers arranged for them to have a panic alarm installed, and told them to keep in regular touch. But otherwise, Alazzawi claimed, they failed to act decisively on the information by warning off Talaat.

“Suzanne went to see the police officer dealing with the case,” said Alazzawi. “She told her: ‘Today I’m alive, tomorrow I may be dead. Why can’t you help me?’ The officer responded by stating that Talaat was a senior government figure in Egypt.”

Tamim rose to fame after winning a talent competition in Lebanon in 1996. Her career, which included several successful albums, was later overshadowed by a troubled private life that included two divorces.

She had an affair with Talaat but moved to London after the couple went through a bitter separation. Talaat tried unsuccessfully to sue her in a Geneva court earlier this year for the return of millions of pounds worth of cash and gifts he claimed to have given her.

On July 28 she was found dead at the age of 30 at the luxury apartment she owned with Alazzawi in Dubai. She had multiple stab wounds and an 8in slash across her throat which almost decapitated her.

According to the indictment by the Egyptian public prosecutor, a former police officer, Muhsen el-Sukkari, killed Tamim after tricking her into opening the front door by posing as a representative of the building’s owners. “He then laid into her with the knife . . . cutting her main arteries and her trachea.”

Dubai investigators say that after the attack, el-Sukkari dumped the overalls and cap he had been wearing in a rubbish bin outside the building. They were found by police and tested for DNA. Police say the alleged killer’s face also appeared on security camera footage.

The indictment alleges the murder “was on the instigation of the second defendant [Talaat] in return for obtaining from him the sum of $2m for committing this crime”.

It states that Talaat “took part through incitement, agreement and assistance with the first defendant in killing the victim in revenge”.

The high-profile murder was an embarrassment for the Dubai authorities, who have been trying to clean up their country’s image to attract western businesses. The emirate has recently cracked down on tourists going topless on beaches and launched a public anti-corruption campaign.

El-Sukkari was arrested on August 6 in Egypt. Tapes of alleged phone conversations kept by el-Sukkari and seized by police led them to Talaat.

In one, a man said to be Talaat says: “The agreed amount is ready.” He tells el-Sukkari: “Tomorrow she is in London, you should act.”

In a later tape, el-Sukkari explains he missed his chance in London and “will wait to move it to Dubai”. Talaat allegedly chides him and says: “Okay, let’s finish with this.”

Prosecutors said that el- Sukkari then followed her from London to Dubai, where he bought a knife to kill her.

Talaat has denied any part in the murder and his lawyers say they will challenge the tapes.
Egyptian media reports have said that el-Sukkari worked as a security officer at the Four Seasons hotel in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, built by the Talaat Mustafa Group, which is owned by Talaat.

The company specialises in luxury hotels and beach resorts and has been a leading force in building western-style suburbs ringing Cairo. Prosecutors say that el-Sukkari confessed to his involvement soon after he was arrested and implicated Talaat in the crime.

As well as being one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen, Talaat has immense political

influence. He is a stalwart of the ruling National Democratic party and a member of the Shura Council, the country’s upper house of parliament. He is said to be close to President Hosni Mubarak’s son and heir apparent, Gamal.

When his name surfaced in the Egyptian media as a suspect, Talaat denied any involvement. But he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity, arrested and charged last week after the Dubai police handed over their file on the case to the authorities in Cairo. Shares in his company fell 16% on reports of the indictment.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said allegations it had received were investigated, and no criminal offence within its jurisdiction had emerged. Alazzawi said detectives had recently taken a statement. “They told me the murder had happened abroad,” he said. “But this case began in London.”

He is distraught about his wife’s death. “I’m angry that I lost her. I was there to protect her but I was doing it all by myself. I didn’t get any help from anybody. I did my best. But for five days she went to Dubai without me and look what happened.”

By David Leppard

© The Times News Service 2008

Whats going on with Projects Al Fajer Properties Jumeriah Lake Towers – Scandal ? – Dynasty Zarooni

posted to 7starsDubai by:

Rohit said…
I have recently bought an office in the ebony tower through dynasty zarooni.

They have been advertising heavily in Gulf News recently.

I want to warn all my fellow investors to beware of the contract that they are signing with DZ. If you check the website of Al fajer Properties, floor plans of their typical floors does not exceed 11,300 square feet, as per the spreadsheet attached to the MOU of sales between Dynasty & Al fajer where clearly sellable area has been mentioned. however Dynasty without any legal grounds and any such permission is adding 30% to the area and are currently selling and advertising even on the web for the floor area to be 14,664 sqft.

So on handover of the property the buyers will be in for a shock and dynasty is no where to take responsibility because they take their premiums out of the contract long before.

I have made enquiries neither the developer Al Fajer Properties nor DZ has an escrow account, please advise what legal action can I take at this stage?

Rohit said…
I recently booked an office with Dynasty Zarouni in the highly advertised Ebony Tower.

I have been baffled ever since I bought it because my office space as per my contract is 14,664 sq ft and I came across a shocking document of MoU signed between DZ and Al Fajer Properties along with the spreadsheet of sales and floor plans which clearly states the floor size to be 11,300 sq ft. This difference roughly amounts to be 30% and is an indigestible difference.

Transparent calculations have shown that DZ has already or in some cases is currently receiving premiums from the contract.

The part that sends a shiver down my spine is that DZ does not have an escrow account

With the kind of scams going around these days, I have a series of questions starting….1)

What happens if Al Fajer is telling the truth about the floor space and DZ isn’t2)

How do we get re imbursed… blah blah… especially if there is no escrow3)

Who is Hilal Zarouni and Kabir Moolchandani4)

Why is Gulf News mis representing the facts. Isnt it a very credible news source? 5)

What is the procedure for taking legal action! Alot of things don’t make sense here and I hope I can find some answersThere is a big “IF” attached to my presumably new office set up i.e if DZ is not a total hoaxIn one case, I m losing quite alot and in the second one I stand to lose everything.

Confusion!

13 August, 2008 10:38

read more:
http://dynastyzarooni.blogspot.com/

Another Post to 7starsDubai 21.August 2008

Comment:
Please check dynasty zarroni for me….I booked a masive office with them and all they do is make me run around…

I have paid my agent to get the story straight.
They published fake pictures in gulf news.

Please check my company’s blog listed below:

http://www.dynastyzarooniscam.wordpress.com/

I need help.

More informations also here:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=290912&page=13

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=138300&page=3

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=139716&page=2

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=567903

 

Property firm’s fury over gloomy Dubai report – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com – Sent Using Google Toolbar

Property firm’s fury over gloomy Dubai report – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Dubai-based Union Properties says it is seeking ways to take action against Morgan Stanley, claiming a recent report had a negative impact on its share price.

Morgan Stanley published a report predicting property prices in Dubai could drop by 10 percent by 2010 as an oversupply of housing floods the market.

The investment bank assigned Union Properties, the developer behind plans for F1-theme parks, a base case price of 5.7 dirhams per share.

Since the report’s release, the company’s share prices have fallen from 5.68 dirhams to 4.89 dirhams on the Dubai Financial Market.

“We’re not sure what action we can take as there are no laws against analysts. But we’ve notified the regulator and we’ll see what they decide,” Zaid Ghoul, chief financial officer of the firm told Gulf News on Wednesday.

He said Union Properties met with Morgan Stanley in February but nothing was discussed regarding a future report.

Ghoul dismissed the report’s claims that housing prices would drop 10 percent as it was not sector-specific.

“The report neglected areas such as affordability and mortgage penetration,” Ghoul said.

He also said the report was too general in its analysis and failed to differentiate between the different sectors of the real estate market.

Dubai property prices ‘to fall 10% by 2010′
Research claims sharp correction in market is likely as supply of real estate increases.

Stronger dollar ‘will deter Dubai speculators’ – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com – Sent Using Google Toolbar

Stronger dollar ‘will deter Dubai speculators’ – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Fears over the health of Dubai’s real estate sector are overblown and a stronger dollar would help rid the market of speculative buyers, Al Mal Capital’s head of equity research said on Thursday.

Prices are likely to ease in 2010 after rising another 10-15 percent in the coming year, but developers like Emaar will still be making a significant profit at those levels, Robert McKinnon, the investment bank’s managing director of equity research, told Arabian Business.

“I think a 10 percent decline would actually not be a problem for this market. The market has been up 10 percent in the last four months,” he said after latest figures for July showed a 40 percent increase in real estate prices compared to the same month last year.

Last week, a report from Morgan Stanley predicted a ten percent correction in Dubai’s booming real estate market over the next two years.

“In 2009 and into 2010 I think prices should remain strong, but I don’t think they’ll keep rising at the same pace,” McKinnon said.

The difficulty of getting a demographic view of income levels in the UAE makes prices harder to predict than in other, more developed markets.

“We use GDP per capita, which doesn’t really account for the fact that a lot of wealth could be sitting in the top two percent of the population, who don’t need four or five houses,” McKinnon said.

But comparing rental yields with mortgage costs suggests price gains should start to moderate next year.

The rising US dollar, now at its highest level in almost six months, has sparked fears of international investors exiting the Dubai market, where a significant number of buyers come from the UK, Europe, Asia and Russia.

Along with the benefit of dampening inflation, McKinnon believes a stronger greenback could help curb speculative activity since it would favour domestic buyers looking to buy a house to live in.

“[The rise] is not yet a trend for the dollar, but if it continues it could be a positive in terms of encouraging the type of buyer that we want buying in the market rather than speculative buyers,” he said.

Rental yields in Dubai remained flat in July versus June, at a median rental yield of 6.8 percent, down from 7.8 percent in July last year, according to a research report from Al Mal Capital released today.

The decline in rental yields over the last year has been driven mainly by higher prices as the median rent in Dubai rose by roughly 23 percent in the period, it said.

The bank’s Dubai real estate price index indicated a year over year price appreciation of 39.9 percent in the residential market in July, while prices in the commercial segment rose by 40.5 percent.

Residential property prices were 0.7 percent higher in July on the month, while the less seasonal office market rose 3.7 percent.

Dubai property prices ‘to fall 10% by 2010′
Research claims sharp correction in market is likely as supply of real estate increases.

Gulfnews: Suzan Tamim murder ‘took 12 minutes’

Gulfnews: Suzan Tamim murder ‘took 12 minutes’:

“Suzan Tamim murder ‘took 12 minutes’ Suzan Tamim murder ‘took 12 minutes’”

By Maysam Ali, Staff ReporterPublished: August 10, 2008, 23:49
Dubai: Five hours after Dubai Police were informed of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim’s death, the suspected killer, a 39-year-old Arab national, was identified, said a senior police official.
“It took 12 minutes for the murderer to enter the building, kill the victim and leave,” Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Acting Chief of Dubai Police told a press conference on Sunday in Dubai.
“The murder was premeditated and the planning was cunning and highly professional,” Al Mazeina said.
He said the suspect was arrested in an Arab country three days after the crime took place. He hinted the motive might have been revenge as there was no evidence in the apartment to indicate otherwise.

The singer was murdered in her apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence on July 28. The police found her body later that evening, several hours after the incident was reported.
Al Mazeina said: “Tamim had a driving test scheduled the morning when she was killed. She had ordered a taxi to meet her under her building at 9am in order to take her to the driving institute. The taxi driver called her several times but she neither answered nor did she meet him.

“This suggests she was killed before 9am.”

The singer was found fully dressed and ready to leave the house. The murderer had managed to pass through the building’s security without being asked for identification.

In order to convince Tamim to let him into her apartment, he showed her, through the building’s video intercom, an envelope showing the logo of the real estate company which had recently sold her the apartment she was residing in. Police said in all probability this was the reason that made her open the door for him.

One and half hours after the crime was committed, the suspect left the UAE and headed to another Arab county, which Mazeina refused to name.
However, some reports suggested the accused was Egyptian. A police source contacted by Gulf News in Cairo said two Egyptians were arrested in connection with the murder.

“The fact is the Prosecutor General has ordered a ban on writing about the case and that the investigations are making progress,” said the police official.

The assassin had walked in wearing two layers of clothes, executed the crime, and then got rid of the clothes in the building. The police found his clothes and used them as evidence.

The morning Tamim was killed, her relatives had been calling her but she did not answer. One of her relatives went to her apartment and found her body lying next to the entrance; the door was open. Her throat was slit with a knife.

There were several feuds between the late singer and people outside the UAE, and this will help identify who it was who wanted Tamim killed, according to police.

Tamim had moved to the UAE in July and bought the apartment 10 days before the crime was committed, police said. Al Mazeina refuted reports that pictures on the building’s security camera led to the suspect’s arrest.

“We had enough and more important evidence in the apartment that led to the identification of the suspect,” he said. The way she was killed further helped narrow down investigations, he added.
Meanwhile, three journalists from a newspaper in Cairo have been referred for questions for violating a ban on publishing a report about investigations with suspects arrested on charges of murdering Tamim. Al Dustour carried a report that two hotel security men from Cairo had confessed to killing her on behalf of an Egyptian client. One said they received $2 million for the job.

Sunday’s edition of the paper disappeared from the market, officials said. The main story on the newspaper’s website has the headline “Is a major Egyptian personality involved in the murder of the Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim?”

Justice: Father’s relief
Abdul Sattar Tamim, Tamim’s father, told Gulf News that he was relieved that the suspect has been arrested. He expressed his gratitude to Dubai Police and said that he was thankful that justice had started to prevail.

“I thank God for the way things are developing. I trust that the result will be positive God willing. I thank Dubai Police for their efficiency,” he told Gulf News.
He refused to comment further as he is currently in a period of grieving and is still receiving mourners.

With additional inputs from Ramdan Abdulkaddar and Bassam Zaza, Senior Reporter

Dubai Property Prices – the truth – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Dubai Property Prices – the truth – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com:

According to Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book quite often we have discovered the truth of a situation long before we are aware or able to communicate it.

In Blink Gladwell uses a game to demonstrate this. In one example, his test subjects are shown four packs of cards, face down. Two are red and two are blue. Participants must choose the correct combination of cards to make money.

After an average of 50 tries, participants realize that blue cards are the means to greater wealth over time. Red cards are much riskier, and the down side is much bigger than any up.”

The point of the game is not to find out how quickly participants can rationalise the game, but how quickly they subconsciously understand its dynamics.Participants were wired up to see the effect of the game on their heart rates. After ten cards or less, red cards induced palpitations.
Blue cards produced no results at all.In other words the test subjects subconsciously understood the game very quickly, but it took their brain another thirty to forty rounds to be able to explain it – and their actions.George Soros, the $9bn man who made a large chunk of his fortune betting the UK would crash out of the ERM used to suffer back aches – which was his body’s way of telling him he need to change his market holding positions. This is a quote from his son, Robert speaking to Soros’ biographer, Michael Kaufman: “My father will sit down and give you theories to explain why he does this or that. But I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking, Jesus Christ, at least half of this is bullshit. I mean, you know the reason he changes his position on the market or whatever is because his back starts killing him. It has nothing to do with reason. He literally goes into a spasm, and it’s his early warning system…

“He is… living in a constant state of not exactly denial, but the rationalisation of his emotional state.”Last week I wrote a column on Dubai property prices. It sparked a lot of debate, with many of you giving infinitely superior rationalisations of why I was wrong – and in far fewer cases right – regarding Dubai’s housing market. My argument was simple: a lack of decent places to live and work in a booming Middle East give Dubai scarcity value – and that means there was more room for property prices to rise.Most of you disagreed.What we are all doing is trying to justify a gut reaction as to where we are on the above chart of what a bubble looks like over time. Some of you may argue we are not on it at all.I have borrowed this chart from Soros’ latest book, The New Paradigm of Financial Markets. To fully explain the curve I would need to go into Soros’ philosophy regarding reflexivity – which would be worthwhile, but not within this column.

Instead, I will explain what the stages look like. The graph or market takes off at point 2.
This is when a trend is recognised (house prices are rising), and is reinforced by a bias (the belief that prices are undervalued and will continue to rise). In a bubble this results in valuations considerably higher than ‘equilibrium’ – the normal balance of supply and demand.Normally the checks and balances of a market will mean at some point ‘testing’ will occur (houses on the Palm fell briefly in 2006 as premiums sky rocketed, and the market wobbled in realisation that many units would not be completed for several years – stage 2). In most cases the set back will return a market to equilibrium.

In a bubble, however, the testing is shrugged off and both the trend and the bias continue (3), normal rules of the market are jettisoned and prices take off (4). It’s at this point, investors are said to be irrationally exuberant, and believe things really can be different this time.According to Soros, there is always a moment of truth, however – stage 5 – when “reality can no longer sustain the exaggerated expectations”.

In period 6 people continue to play the game but no longer believe in it.

Point 7 is reached when the trend turns downwards (house prices fall) and the bias inverses (property prices are over valued), leading to a “catastrophic” downward acceleration (8), also known as a crash.

According to this model the boom-bust cycle starts slowly (prices rise gently), accelerate gradually and then fall steeper than they have risen.Given Malcolm Gladwell’s argument that subconsciously we understand a situation before we can provide a full justification of what is happening, I would like to conduct a little experiment.

What I would like to do is use the Internet to draw your collective subconscious together to pinpoint where as a group ArabianBusiness.com readers think we are on this chart.

I will publish the median score, and if enough of you take part, your best arguments to justify each position.Those of you who argue that we are at stage 1 are arguing we are not in a bubble at all, but that prices are rising to a genuine equilibrium.

Those of you who argue we are in stage 2 are arguing prices have only just begun their journey, and the market will at some point test and correct itself.Those of you who say we are on points 3-5 are arguing that we are in a bubble, but we have not reached the peak yet.

Those of you who say we are at poing 6 are arguing we no longer believe in the valuations – and that a crash is imminent.Very few of us are blessed with a back pain that helps us predict the future.

However, what we have that Soros does not is the Internet, and the ability to draw together the gut instincts of thousands. Comment on this article and we will together form an overview of how much leg room property prices have to run. Make sure you detail whether you are talking about Dubai in particular, or the region as a whole.

Comments : http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=527200:dubai-property-prices—the-truth

The Wisdom of crowds – Dubai Property Prices – the truth – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com – Sent Using Google Toolbar

Dubai Property Prices – the truth – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Deja Vu
Posted by Luis, Dubai, UAE on 11 August 2008 at 08:59 UAE time

First, for this exercise you may be better if you had quoted “the wisdom of crowds”. I personally find it quite shallow, but probably it would have been a better reference.

Trojan already took care of the market timing aspects and put some of the most disturbing facts. I would just like to add the following (facts and opinions).

Fact
I expected the dot com to crash much earlier than I did. If I had put my money where my mouth was I would have lost my shirt and margin calls would have killed me. Being right is not enough to make money, I think many people knew that there was an overvaluation but still it paid not to bet on it.

In 2004 I could not believe either that property prices in my country (Spain) or my workplace (London) could go any higher. Higher they went, and down… and I heard many of the same reasonings (like the need to provide housing for all the immigrants). Again the prices could go up for much longer than I could expect.

Fact
If you are working here, especially if you are an expat, it is not a good idea to invest here. This is an area with high specific country risk. If your source of money is here and your investments are here when economy goes south you will more likely get a double whammy, losing your job and your investments.

Diversification is king. (and yes, this is a fact, not an opinion, check any basic Finance book). For the same reason the fact tact that some institutional investors are putting their money in other areas is not necessarily bad. They may be looking for diversification themselves.

On the other hand, this supports the idea of people in Europe looking for a non correlated investment (if high oil prices screw up the economy and your job at least your investments are linked to an economy that profits from high oil prices).

Fact
Bubbles are not prickled so much by external events as by people losing heart. These type of polls may be a good barometer. But of course ex post people will build a causal relationship with some event (dot com it was 9/11 even though my company in the telco space had been laying off people earlier). For this one maybe it would be Russian-Georgian conflict… who knows. But all it takes is a change in “sentiment”… this may be quite sudden.

Fact
It is true that there is too much money in the region chasing too few opportunities. But now the opportunities in Europe look suddenly cheaper and the oil price may go down for a number of reasons. Besides trusting that your investments will work because of an excess in liquidity is, well, adventurous to say the least. Most people who invest here do not understand how this works, same was true during the dot com bubble, by the way.

Opinion
Even if prices go up this is not a good thing, it simply means that when (not if) they crash they will do faster and deeper.

Opinion
This region has a number of structural weaknesses that have been overlooked during the good times (legal system, regulatory capabilities). We see the failures in much more mature and (in theory at least) better regulated economies like the US. The mood is “We are different here”. Well, my bet is that “we are NOT so different here” when the bad times arrive I do not think there will be too much preparation.

And while the governments in the region will probably take care of the locals (for their own survival), expats will be left hanging high and dry.

I personally do not trust financial statements much here. In my sector I know quite well how easily things would go south, I have no reason to believe that financial institutions are in any better shape.

Opinion
If you are basing your decision to invest on the belief that you will find someone shortly willing to buy it from you, then you are speculating. There is a good reason that speculators make money, it is because they take risks. In my opinion people should stay away from investments where they do not understand the risk, and no, bricks are not “risk free” investments. It does not matter what your mommy told you.

Disclaimer
Yes, I am a very pessimistic person by nature.

Flip mentality Dubai Property Market – Dubai Property Prices – the truth – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com – Sent Using Google Toolbar

Dubai Property Prices – the truth – Real Estate – ArabianBusiness.com

Property Prices Graph
Posted by Maureen, Dubai, UAE on 11 August 2008 at 09:16 UAE time

Well written article – thoroughly enjoyed it!

My own thoughts are that that we are probably at stage 4, but sometimes I even have disbelief of my own beliefs, (i.e. don’t buy in an upmarket). This because of the sheer numbers of people flocking to Dubai (The Gold Rush Syndrome ?).

But on the back of that I see huge numbers leaving and even more colleagues disenchanted because they cannot even afford the standard of accommodation they took for granted back home and now they wonder what it’s all about.

They came here to have a change in lifestyle, make some money and make a difference, but that fairytale is changing.

The only people to truly benefit truly either the people who bought 3 years ago (lucky them for having had both the money and the foresight), and/or the people who are worried about the future of their own unsettled countries and are setting themselves up “just in case” . They are the lucky ones (or maybe not).

The main question I ask myself constantly is, when did the world become so concerned with property, wealth, and greed. Suddenly (and I do mean suddenly), we seem to be on a world stage where the world has gone quite mad about property.

When did it change from being a roof over our heads with maybe another small investment on the side(i.e. holiday cottage), to this monster making enormous capital gains for speculators.

The question has to be asked, is it driven like oil by speculation. I think the answer quite simply yes. Will it last? I don’t think so. When will it end? Certainly not until the appetites are satisfied.

Is it wrong to speculate on property, probably not. Our forefathers never had the chance to “get rich quick without any effort”, so why not get it if you can I hear everyone say.

The real problem arises however with the “Flip” mentality here in the middle east, and that is something which may catch a lot of people out because they will get in at stage 5 and fall victim to the failings in the system.

Check out the wealthy VIP’s invited to these “salubrious property launches”, they put down deposits on say 10 units, hand over their cheque, go down to the hall where the masses wait clutching passports and cheque books (there will never be another building built in Dubai you would think !). He onsells on first come first serve to these poor suckers, who eagerly pay him a 10% premium just to get the right to jump the queue and buy this rare commodity. He then pops back to the seller, gives them ten cheques and takes back his own!

It’s a joke. I have seen it happen, and its wrong, but can we ever stop it, and who cares, certainly not the flippers.

But that’s Dubai, and it is that greed that just might kill the goose in the end, but when will that be, and where are we on the hraph. Well maybe number 4 or 5, but then again maybe it’s number 2. It is going to be a very interesting scenario as it plays out.

One thing for sure however, the rich get richer and the poor struggle to survive and that will never change, only the degrees of wealth changes at the upper end.

Dirham undervalued 25%, says Big Mac survey

Dirham undervalued 25%, says Big Mac survey:

“The UAE dirham, like other Gulf currencies, is undervalued against the US dollar by nearly 25 per cent, says the Big Mac Index survey, conducted by the Economist magazine.

The new data, based on the price of Big Mac burger in various countries, showed the decline of the US dollar versus major currencies, which again strengthens the case for dirham devaluation.

The annual survey found the UAE dirham to be 24 per cent undervalued with respect to the dollar when buying a Big Mac in the country, while the Saudi Arabian riyal was undervalued by 25 per cent. Both the UAE and Saudi currency are directly pegged to the dollar. The Egyptian pound was undervalued to the extent of 31 per cent.

The Big Mac Index is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), which says that exchange rates should move to make the price of a basket of goods the same in each country. According to the survey, only a handful of currencies are close to their Big Mac PPP. The British pound, Swedish krona, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar are trading above burger benchmark.”

‘Allow foreign ownership’

UAE national companies need to tear down barriers for foreign owernship to attract more international capital into the local market, the CEO of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) said yesterday.
Tom Healy said the rapid growth in the domestic economy was already luring foreign investors into the UAE bourses and expected the inflow to increase in the future.He also said plans to introduce derivatives to ADX were nearly completed and trading in such tools would begin next year.

In an interview with Emirates Business, Healy ruled out a collapse in the UAE stocks despite sharp fluctuations over the past two months, adding such turbulence “is nothing compared to what is happening in global markets”.”

If the law on foreign ownership is changed, then we will see a lot of companies coming to this market.

We are trying to attract more foreign investors, who are also tempted by the rapid economic growth and high return here,” he said.”But the only problem is the restrictions imposed on foreign ownership, mainly by the national companies in the country. So we would like to see these restrictions lifted or reduced so that foreign firms and individuals can increase their investment further and take advantage of the growing opportunities here … my expectations in the long turn are that foreign investors will continue to grow.”

Asked about plans to introduce derivatives to ADX, he said they are part of an ongoing programme to develop the bourse and expected the project to materialise next year.”

There is no organised derivatives market in the Gulf. We are trying to introduce this type of investment to ADX. The legal framework is there and the authorities have an open mind about this plan. Such things usually take time but we are working on them and let’s hope they will materialise sometime next year,” he said.
Healy expected ADX to perform better this year, citing a nine per cent growth in the index in the first half and a large increase in foreign dealing to nearly 24 per cent. He said recent turbulence in the UAE bourses was normal in a stock market.

“There might be some turbulence over the past two month but it is nothing compared to what is happening internationally,” he said.”
As for a collapse in the local market, I don’t think there will be a collapse in ADX…a collapse could happen to an individual company having problems or with poor outlook and this is not the case here. Again, I say a collapse will not happen here.”

Gulfnews: Slain singer wanted to pursue studies in Cairo – Sent Using Google Toolbar

Gulfnews: Slain singer wanted to pursue studies in Cairo

By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter Last updated: July 31, 2008, 11:16

Dubai: Suzan Tamim wanted to give up her singing career and pursue studies at the American University in Cairo, said her close friend. Joe Raad, who was also hairdresser of Suzan, the slain singer, was associated with her from 1996. Speaking to Gulf News over the telephone from his salon in Beirut, he said despite the problems that surrounded her personal life Suzan was a feisty woman who knew exactly what she wanted to do in life. “I am shocked to learn that her life came to such a tragic end. She was beautiful and charming. I had been to her house and met her father who was in tears and kept saying aloud that Suzan is all alone and there is no one at her side.” Raad said her father had not seen her for two years and was planning to come to Dubai in a couple of days to take the body back to Beirut. “According to him she had suffered enough while she was alive and does not want the same for her now that he is dead. Her voice still rings in my ears. I spoke to her last month and it was then that she told me about her decision to give up her singing career and pursue her studies. She was just 18 years old when she shot to fame,” said Raad. “She used to confide a lot in me. She used to just telephone me and say ‘Joe I want to talk to someone and so I called you’. From Cairo she moved to London and stayed there with her uncle but had to leave as her visa validity came to an end. One of her reasons to move to Dubai was because she had heard that if she bought a house in Dubai she would be automatically eligible for residency. This I was told by her father who always wanted his daughter back with him in Beirut,” said Raad. “I wanted her to be the face of my salon …. But then I decided to abandon the idea as I did not want to create more trouble than what was already plaguing her,” said Raad. Gulf News learnt that the singer’s mother returned to Beirut just a couple of days before Suzan’s death. Troubled life The late singer Suzan Tamim was not known for being on good terms with people around her. Whether she was just defiant and moody or downright mean will probably remain a mystery. Suzan’s relationship with her father, Abdul Sattar Tamim, was not stable. The two were not on speaking terms when Suzan met her second husband, Adel Matouk, who reconciled them after many attempts. Abdul Sattar then tried to take over the management of his daughter’s activities. He signed her up for some concerts, which did not go well with Matouk, who had signed a 15-year exclusive contract with Suzan. Another incident that further strained the father-daughter relations was the arrest of Abdul Sattar in Cairo Airport in 2004 for possession of heroin, as reported by the Arabic media. He claimed that the watch box, containing the drugs, was given to him by one of Suzan’s friends in Poland as a gift to the singer, and Suzan was called for interrogation. Suzan’s luck with her husbands was not better. When the 19-year-old first appeared on TV in 1996, she was already married to Ali Muzannar, who “took care of her because she was very young”, in her own words. After landing a role in the musical play Gadat Al Kamilia as a substitute to the play’s original star, Lebanese singer Madonna, it seemed that Suzan popularity was rising, but at a cost. Muzannar was not happy with his wife’s newfound fame, and the couple were not on speaking terms. He also refused to divorce her. Suzan allegedly paid $1 million (about Dh3.67 million) for her first divorce in 2002. Matouk, her second husband, had obtained an Interpol arrest-warrant against her in 2005 for stealing $230,000 and some jewellery from the safe at the couple’s apartment in Adma, Lebanon. He complained that she treated him with disrespect by allowing her father to negotiate and sign contracts on her behalf in violation of her exclusive contract with Matouk. Another sore spot in the couple’s relationship was Suzan’s occasional denial of their marriage. She gave contradicting statements to the media, sometimes calling him her husband and other times referring to him as her ‘manager’. When things hit rock bottom, Suzan claimed that her marriage to Matouk was never consummated and threatened to sue him since she was his second wife, and as a French citizen, Matouk’s second marriage was considered bigamy. Matouk is officially still Suzan’s husband at the time of her death. - By Dina Aboul Hosn, Staff Reporter

Banks in credit risk warning

original published: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/525814-banks-in-credit-risk-warning?ln=en

Analysts have warned that UAE banks risk becoming overexposed to bad debt and defaulted loans, due to people fleeing the region to escape debt, and the lack of a federal credit bureau.According to the UAE Central Bank, consumer loans have soared more than 55% since the end of 2006, as the second-largest Arab economy has slashed interest rates in line with the US. Loans to individuals rose to US$13.18bn to the end of March 2008, compared with US$8.51bn in December 2006.“

There are no controls and huge opportunities for fraud or bad loans,” said Deepak Tolani, senior associate, equity research, at UAE investment bank Al Mal Capital.“Over 80% of the UAE population is expatriate, who could just get up and leave,” he continued. “The banks are on their own in the UAE – they don’t share credit information and there is no credit bureau, so I can go get a credit card of 15 times my salary, then go to the next bank and get another one.”

The number of UAE residents fleeing the country to escape debt is on the rise, according to experts.

The phenomenon, known in banking circles as ‘skipping’, has already led to some Gulf Central Banks tightening their consumer lending rules and risk weightings, in a bid to curb debt accumulation.Analysts also warned that any slowdown in the influx of expatriates into the region could trigger a credit squeeze.“

The main thing that could make lending a systemic issue in the UAE and Qatar, is if something happened to slow or stop immigration,” warned Raj Madha, senior research analyst at EFG-Hermes in Dubai.“

It is difficult to see what that might be, but perhaps political or regional instability, or – less dramatically – a reduced welcome for the kind of immigrants who also invest capital in the country,” he added. “

If net immigration were to slow sharply, the end user market for property would undershoot, and you might have a very substantial build-up in non-performing loans across the country.”

Property Scandal Schon Properties Dubai Lagoon – Latest Action: Termination Letters

Update Property SCandal SchonProperties Dubai Lagoon

latest comment Skyscrapercity Forum

TERMINATION LETTER

Dear All:

I have been to the RERA and had a meeting with Ms.Khoula Al Madani she is located on the 1st floor. I was informed by her that they have asked Schon Properties to issue the buyers a new revised payment plans. If the building hasn’t been started yet (according to the zones) she told me We must wait for revised payment plans and ignore any Termination Letter .

Instead of giving us the revised payment plans ….Schon Properties has started issusing Termination Letters to the buyers which has two meanings:

1.) To Sell the apartments on the higher current market prices.
2.) To collect the balance amount due. Without any promises on delivery dates.

RERA have told them to issue the New Payment Plans Instead Schon is delaying to issue the new payment plans Instead they have issued the Termination Letters

Which RERA doesn’t know about.

I would request everyone who has recieved the Termination Letter to get in touch with her or Mr.Marwan.

Gulfnews: Five minutes that changed an elderly UAE citizen’s life

Gulfnews: Five minutes that changed an elderly UAE citizen’s life

By Nasouh Nazzal, Staff ReporterPublished: June 28, 2008, 00:04
Ras Al Khaimah: The elderly handicapped man at first did not recognise the person who greeted him and sat beside him in front of his home in the remote area of Wadi Al Qoor.
“Do you know me, I am Mohammad Bin Rashid,” said the visitor and as the elderly man looked closely at his face, he realised the visitor was special.
“You are most welcome Abu Rashid,” said Mohammad Salem Khamis Al Ka’abi, who said he is 100 years old. “It is an honour to have you,” said the Emirati.

The special visitor that day was His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
A five-minute conversation that day changed the life of the centenarian.

Shaikh Mohammad presented Al Ka’abi with a new villa and ordered complete maintenance of the old man’s house and the home of his orphaned grandsons.
“It was an unforgettable moment,” said Al Ka’abi, who has three sons and a daughter. Four other sons have died, three if them in road accidents.

“Give me an order father, whatever you want, just name it, said Shaikh Mohammad,” said Al Ka’abi. “I just hope for a long and happy life,” replied Al Ka’abi.
Shaikh Mohammad looked around and saw the old man’s house had cracks on the walls. “Here we will build for you a very comfortable home,” Shaikh Mohammad reportedly told him.
Al Ka’abi told Shaikh Mohammad that his house was given to him by Shaikh Rashid and he decided never to leave it even though the house deteriorated due to lack of maintenance over the years.

“We owe the Al Maktoum family many favours as they provided me and my family with housing all our lives,” said Al Ka’abi.
Shaikh Mohammad also ordered that the house be fully furnished.
When Shaikh Mohammad learnt that five grandsons of Al Ka’abi who lived in a similar dilapidated house nearby, he ordered that it also be renovated, furnished and equipped. Their father had died in a road accident.

“The contractors worked day and night. They never stopped, never took a rest, till the entire work was completed,” said Al Ka’abi. “The contractors repeatedly invited me to have a look at their work, but I refused and never entered the new house till they handed me the keys,” he said.

Al Ka’abi’s wife Aliba said Shaikh Mohammad greeted her, calling her his aunt. “God has created this man to look after his people. We never imagined we would see him in this remote area,” she said. “This man has honoured us in a way real fathers and mothers would be honoured.”
Neither Al Ka’abi nor Aliba know the number of bedrooms they have in their new home, but they think it has six or seven bedrooms. “The house was prepared, furnished and equipped in a way which makes our life comfortable,” said Al Ka’abi. “Foodstuff, vegetables, fruits, and even tissue boxes were in the house, as if Shaikh Mohammad was telling us to just live a comfortable life.”

Each room has two split air-conditioning unit and has spacious majlis, an independent huge water tanker with a large pump, he said. “Words fail to express our thanks and gratitude to the generosity of Shaikh Mohammad,” said Al Ka’abi.

“Shaikh Mohammad can fulfil anyone’s dreams. It just requires only meeting him once, and he looks you in the eye and then looks around you. He can easily find out what you wanted without your asking for it,” he said.

One of Al Ka’abi’s sons, Saeed, said he was in Abu Dhabi when he got a call that Shaikh Mohammad was visiting his father. “I never expected that it was him, even after I was informed. It was a dream visit,” he said.

Al Ka’abi said his homes will never be sold. “Not even for billions of dirhams,” he said. “My children after me know this that the houses granted to us by the Al Maktoum family will never be for sale.”

Worker suicide shock

original published
7DAYS Worker suicide shock

At least 29 illegal workers who returned to India during the amnesty last year have committed suicide, an Indian minister has confirmed. Most of them ended their lives after failing to handle the pressure exerted by private money lenders demanding repayment of cash for their loans that originally paid for them to come to the UAE.
Mohammed Ali Shabbir, a minority welfare minister in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, said that thousands of workers returned with large debts. “They borrowed huge sums of money – in excess of dhs10,000 to go to the UAE, but had to return back within months after the amnesty for illegal labourers was announced. They came back with huge debts and were not able to pay back the money lenders,” he said.
Shabbir said that the state government has announced a compensation package of nearly dhs10,000 for the families of the suicide victims. “We also formed a high level committee to look into these cases and prevent such kind of incidents taking place in the future,” he said. The Indian government, Shabbir said, is cracking down on bogus recruitment agents cheating workers by pretending they have work visas and jobs on arrival in the UAE.
“Because of the new measures, the numbers of people going to the UAE on visit visas has come down. Some of the agents involved in the trade were arrested a few months back and sent to jail,” he said. “There is also a rehabilitation package for the workers who returned during the amnesty. They are being provided jobs in the private sector and are being provided loans to set up their own businesses. We are expecting that our measures will yield positive results.
“There are plenty of jobs for the workers in the construction sector which is booming at the moment. Skilled labourers can earn at least dhs800 per month if they opted to stay in India and work,” he added. The UAE declared an amnesty in June last year for the repatriation of illegal migrants and extended it until November 2.
According to figures from the Indian Consulate, 95,000 Indians left the country during the amnesty and 45,000 workers regularised their status.
Out of fear of being chased by money lenders, a number of Indian workers continued to stay illegally in the UAE. One illegal worker who is based in Sharjah, recently told 7DAYS: “I owe more than dhs10,000 to the money-lenders. If I go back home, I won’t have any option except ending my life.”
fareed.rahman@7days.ae

A reality check for realty boom – Sent Using Google Toolbar

A reality check for realty boom

original By Saifur RahmanBusiness Editor Gulfnews Published: June 20, 2008, 00:08

Dubai: Lack of coordination between government bodies could threaten the growth of the real estate sector in the Northern Emirates, industry officials cautioned on Thursday. More than 300 towers are in various stages of development on both sides of the Emirates Road in Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah that might be completed but will not see “light” years after completion. Some billions of dirhams have been committed by small investors that could go wrong if government authorities do not collaborate to ensure utilities, officials say. A senior federal government official has accused local governments in the Northern Emirates of “unplanned” developments that could lead to a major crisis relating to power and water supplies, or lack of it. “The abrupt development in the construction field now seen in Northern Emirates is unplanned,” Hassan Abdullah Al Ghasyah, executive director of Supply at the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa), said in a statement, responding to queries from Gulf News. “Local government authorities have not coordinated on precise water and power requirement with Fewa. However, according to the Cabinet decision, Fewa is committed to a minimum 8 per cent annual growth in power and water demand.” Private sector officials estimate the GDP growth of emirates such as Ajman at 27 per cent and population growth at 18 per cent. Real estate investors who are lining up to buy freehold homes in Ajman might have to wait for an indefinitie period for utilities, industry sources said. Saleh Amer Al Katheeri, chairman of High Sky Properties, which launched Triple Towers hosting 1,160 apartments in Ajman, told Gulf News: “Yes, electricity and water supply remain a concern for us. We have been assured by the government of a steady supply. But if there’s a shortage, we will use our own generator to power these buildings.” Issues related to utilities have forced the construction of Al Salam City – valued at Dh30 billion – to be postponed. Umm Al Quwain last month accused developers Tameer Holding for ignoring the issue, which has largely been under government control. Fewa is meeting the current demand by operating its own plants and importing water and power from Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority, Al Ghasyah said. “In the future, the plan is to increase this import,” he said. Despite rising concerns, small-time investors are scrambling for apartments in new “freehold” areas in the Northern Emirates to make a quick profit. Property prices have also been rising fast due to strong demand. Apartment prices in Ajman have jumped to Dh500 per square foot, up from Dh400 in a matter of months, sources said. Power supply: New plants to be built Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of Ajman Planning and Property Department, has openly expressed concern about the city. “I believe infrastructure development in Ajman is not coping with the rapid developments in real estate … this could cause problems,” he said. “The sewage project is delaying the infrastructure development, though we are pushing for its completion to go ahead with the infrastructure development. The Ministry of Energy will also build a new electricity and water plant.” - By Bassma Al Jandaly/, Staff Reporter Would you buy property to live or as an investment? Would higher returns on investment encourage you to buy property despite a lack of infrastructure?

Chat between drunk men sparked terror warning

Gulfnews: Chat between drunk men sparked terror warning

By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter Published: June 20, 2008, 00:08

Dubai: A personal conversation between two drunk men in a hotel bar led the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi to issue the recent terror attack warning, Gulf News has learnt. The embassy on June 14 posted a warning on its website against a terror attack in the UAE. A diplomatic source said the warning was issued based on a personal conversation between the two Arab men in the Hemingway bar in the Hiltonia Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The bar is frequented by hundreds of Britons and Americans. One drunk man told the other in jest: “If someone wants to scare all these people and make them run away, just say there is a bomb. A belt bomb will kill hundreds of them.” The source said it is believed that Britons sitting near the men overheard the conversation and thought it was serious. They reported the matter to their embassy who immediately issued the terror alert. The travel advisory said: “The attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time, including in places frequented by expats … You should maintain a high level of security awareness.”

A reality check for realty boom – Sent Using Google Toolbar

A reality check for realty boom

original By Saifur RahmanBusiness Editor Gulfnews Published: June 20, 2008, 00:08

Dubai: Lack of coordination between government bodies could threaten the growth of the real estate sector in the Northern Emirates, industry officials cautioned on Thursday. More than 300 towers are in various stages of development on both sides of the Emirates Road in Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah that might be completed but will not see “light” years after completion. Some billions of dirhams have been committed by small investors that could go wrong if government authorities do not collaborate to ensure utilities, officials say. A senior federal government official has accused local governments in the Northern Emirates of “unplanned” developments that could lead to a major crisis relating to power and water supplies, or lack of it. “The abrupt development in the construction field now seen in Northern Emirates is unplanned,” Hassan Abdullah Al Ghasyah, executive director of Supply at the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa), said in a statement, responding to queries from Gulf News. “Local government authorities have not coordinated on precise water and power requirement with Fewa. However, according to the Cabinet decision, Fewa is committed to a minimum 8 per cent annual growth in power and water demand.” Private sector officials estimate the GDP growth of emirates such as Ajman at 27 per cent and population growth at 18 per cent. Real estate investors who are lining up to buy freehold homes in Ajman might have to wait for an indefinitie period for utilities, industry sources said. Saleh Amer Al Katheeri, chairman of High Sky Properties, which launched Triple Towers hosting 1,160 apartments in Ajman, told Gulf News: “Yes, electricity and water supply remain a concern for us. We have been assured by the government of a steady supply. But if there’s a shortage, we will use our own generator to power these buildings.” Issues related to utilities have forced the construction of Al Salam City – valued at Dh30 billion – to be postponed. Umm Al Quwain last month accused developers Tameer Holding for ignoring the issue, which has largely been under government control. Fewa is meeting the current demand by operating its own plants and importing water and power from Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority, Al Ghasyah said. “In the future, the plan is to increase this import,” he said. Despite rising concerns, small-time investors are scrambling for apartments in new “freehold” areas in the Northern Emirates to make a quick profit. Property prices have also been rising fast due to strong demand. Apartment prices in Ajman have jumped to Dh500 per square foot, up from Dh400 in a matter of months, sources said. Power supply: New plants to be built Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of Ajman Planning and Property Department, has openly expressed concern about the city. “I believe infrastructure development in Ajman is not coping with the rapid developments in real estate … this could cause problems,” he said. “The sewage project is delaying the infrastructure development, though we are pushing for its completion to go ahead with the infrastructure development. The Ministry of Energy will also build a new electricity and water plant.” - By Bassma Al Jandaly/, Staff Reporter Would you buy property to live or as an investment? Would higher returns on investment encourage you to buy property despite a lack of infrastructure?

Chat between drunk men sparked terror warning

Gulfnews: Chat between drunk men sparked terror warning

By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter Published: June 20, 2008, 00:08

Dubai: A personal conversation between two drunk men in a hotel bar led the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi to issue the recent terror attack warning, Gulf News has learnt. The embassy on June 14 posted a warning on its website against a terror attack in the UAE. A diplomatic source said the warning was issued based on a personal conversation between the two Arab men in the Hemingway bar in the Hiltonia Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The bar is frequented by hundreds of Britons and Americans. One drunk man told the other in jest: “If someone wants to scare all these people and make them run away, just say there is a bomb. A belt bomb will kill hundreds of them.” The source said it is believed that Britons sitting near the men overheard the conversation and thought it was serious. They reported the matter to their embassy who immediately issued the terror alert. The travel advisory said: “The attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time, including in places frequented by expats … You should maintain a high level of security awareness.”

UK Warns Of Higher Threat Of Terror Attack In UAE – Middle East News

UK Warns Of Higher Threat Of Terror Attack In UAE – Middle East News

Monday, Jun 16, 2008

(Adds comments from HSBC, BA and Control Risks.)

By Andrew Critchlow and Oliver Klaus

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)–The U.K. government has raised its assessment of a terrorist attack in the United Arab Emirates where about 120,000 British expats reside, to high, from general.

“There is a high threat from terrorism,” according to an e-mailed note from the British Embassy sent late Sunday. “Terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the U.A.E.”

The notice sent to registered U.K. expatriates in the emirates says that “terrorist attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers such as residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests.”

Simon Goldsmith, a political affairs officer at the British embassy in Dubai declined to comment Monday on what information has triggered the significant increase in threat alert for the U.A.E.

“This is under constant review and can go up, or down,” he told Zawya Dow Jones. British citizens account for the largest group of Western expatriate workers in the emirates, among the most moderate of Gulf Arab states.

The U.A.E. is now ranked at the highest level of threat for a terrorist attack on a level with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, according to Goldsmith. The British government has four security advisory levels: low, underlying, general and high.

The alert could spark panic among the thousands of expatriates living in emirates such as Dubai, which is booming from an influx of foreign white collar workers to its banking and finance district.

Dubai, which has little oil, could be the hardest hit of the seven sheikdoms in the emirates by any loss in confidence over the country’s security against terrorism. Goldsmith told Zawya Dow Jones that about 1 million British tourists visit the emirates every year.

Political Shock

“Non-nationals account for over 80% of the population, so yes, it could potentially be hit by a political shock that slowed the inflow of expatriate labor or, in a more extreme scenario, caused resident expatriates to leave the country,” said Tristan Cooper, senior Middle East sovereign analyst at Moody’s Investor Services.

The embassy hasn’t changed its advisory for travelers to the U.A.E. and is not telling tourists to cancel their holiday plans in the emirates as a result of the heightened threat of a terrorist attack, Goldsmith said.

The British embassy is so far the only major foreign diplomatic mission in the U.A.E. to warn of an increased threat of terrorist attack.

The U.S. State Department hasn’t issued any new warning Monday. A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Abu Dhabi said only that the embassy was aware of the U.K. warning and is “constantly monitoring” the security situation and constantly communicates with the American community in the U.A.E.

Business executives in Dubai were largely dismissive of the U.K. embassy’s warning saying that the sheikdom’s relentless economic boom will march on regardless.

Tim Harrison, a Dubai-based spokesperson for HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), said the bank wasn’t planning any action, or giving any additional advice to its U.A.E.-based employees.

British Airways PLC’s (BAY.LN) London-based spokesperson Eun Fordyce said the carrier was aware of the new security warning but declined to comment on whether the company planned to increase security for its employees in the U.A.E.

The Dubai Financial Market shrugged off any concerns over the U.K. government’s statement closing Monday up 0.5% to 5660.94 points in the morning session. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange was up narrowly 0.7% to 5144.88.

U.S. Allies

The U.A.E., historically a key U.S. and U.K. ally in the Persian Gulf, has so far escaped attacks from Al Qaeda Islamic militants who have targeted neighboring states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Terrorists bombed a theater in Qatar, killing a U.K. expatriate and injuring 12 others, in 2005. Saudi Arabia, which maintains a more conservative Muslim society than the emirates, has repeatedly faced attacks from Islamic extremists against expatriate workers and its oil facilities since 2003.

The emirates openness to Western culture such as allowing the consumption of alcohol in public places and its open door policy to foreigners may make it a target for Islamic groups such as Al Qaeda.

Jebel Ali port, located about 40 kilometers southwest of central Dubai, is the only harbor facility in the Gulf where U.S. nuclear-class aircraft carriers can dock to allow sailors onshore.

To be sure, the federation has tightened up on money laundering and its internal security in an effort to ensure militants don’t gain a foothold. Two of the 19 terrorists involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. were U.A.E. nationals.

The government said last month it planned to spend 3 billion U.A.E. dirhams ($821 million) boosting security in an effort to safeguard its oil facilities, which pump about 2.6 million barrels a day of crude.

Neil Quilliam, an analyst at Control Risks Group, a security advisory company, said that Al Qaeda was unlikely to target the U.A.E., which is relatively easy to access when compared to neighboring Gulf states.

“We are led to believe that Al Qaeda does operate in some form in the U.A.E. so by targeting the U.A.E. it will be diminishing its own access,” he said.

-By Andrew Critchlow, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 364 4960; andrew.critchlow@dowjones.com (with reporting by Tahani Karrar, Maria Abi-Habib and Chip Cummins in Dubai.)

Copyright (c) 2007, Dow Jones & Co., Inc.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

16-06-08 1218GMT

UAE residents "happiest and safest throughout Middle East"

original published: Gulf News
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10220035.html

Dubai leads Middle East countries in quality of living for residents, according to latest survey.

By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
Published: June 10, 2008, 18:27

Dubai: UAE residents are the happiest and safest among all cities in the Middle East, according to a quality of living survey of 215 cities, with Dubai coming tops, followed by Abu Dhabi.

Mercer, an international consulting firm, announced the results of its annual survey on Tuesday, ranking Dubai at 83 and Abu Dhabi at 87 in terms of quality of living, and Abu Dhabi 33 and Dubai 47 for personal safety.

The best city to live in is Zurich while the safest is Luxembourg. Baghdad placed last in both aspects, coming in at 215 out of 215.

The survey was conducted “to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments”.

——————————————————————————–

——————————————————————————–

“Several regions of the Middle East have benefited enormously from government investment in infrastructure, health and sanitation and are rising up the rankings,” said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer, in a statement.

“However, personal safety and political tensions remain stumbling blocks and account for the low ranking of many of the region’s cities. Multinationals often compensate for this by increasing compensation levels and other benefits for their employees,” he said.

The key indicators included medical supplies and services, traffic congestion, censorship, personal freedom, recreation, schools and education, political and social environment and economic environment.

Nada Al Qassimi, spokesperson for Dubai Health Authority, told Gulf News that Dubai has always tried to lead the way in terms of health.

“What we’re doing is good but we want the best. We are benchmarking our health system against the best in the world,” she said.

Last year, Dubai came in at 80 and Abu Dhabi at 88 in the quality of living survey.

Bassam Ghazal, head of public information product solutions at Mercer in Dubai, said the lower ranking does not mean Dubai has lost its strength.

“Dubai’s ranking has not gone down. It has actually gone up. It is now ranking 83 because other cities have also improved,” he said.

The Dubai government has acknowledged the population growth and adjusted its future plans accordingly, announcing a new system of health funding that will allow all residents equal access to healthcare.

Dubai is also undertaking various ambitious infrastructure projects to accommodate the growing population, including building an extensive network of roads and a light-rail transport system.

Abu Dhabi is involved in several projects to improve the quality of life for its residents, including ones that will place it as the cultural centre of the UAE.

Detained banker ‘tortured’ in Dubai

Detained banker ‘tortured’ in Dubai
original published
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto060920081427073959
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai/ Financial Times
Montag Jun 9 2008 13:20

A Pakistani banker detained by the Dubai authorities as part of a corruption investigation at the Dubai Islamic Bank is suing the bank in the US, alleging that he has been tortured and held in the United Arab Emirates without credible evidence against him.

The case offers a rare glimpse into the sometimes murky world of Dubai’s justice system, where rumours of disappearances and mani-pulation of evidence abound.

The bank’s investigation is one of a spate of financial and real-estate scandals that could affect the UAE’s quest to become a business centre adhering to international standards.

Dubai has turned itself into a magnet for international businesses seeking to serve the oil-rich Middle East, but its rudimentary legal system is regarded as a weakness of the emirate’s regulatory landscape.

Rafatul Islam Usmani, who was working in structured finance for the bank, is pressing for unspecified damages against his former employer, the Dubai Islamic Bank, the Middle East’s third-largest Islamic bank by assets, as well as one of the bank’s former employees and a government auditor.

Mr Usmani says Dubai’s security forces abused him during an investigation into alleged misuse of the bank’s funds in Turkey.

In a complaint filed on June 2, he claims the authorities tortured him to the point that he “confessed to unknown criminal acts”, and that they assaulted members of his family and kept hold of his passport.

He has filed the case in Miami under the Alien Tort Claims Act, arguing that the Dubai judiciary is prone to political interference.

Michael Diaz, his lawyer in Florida, says that when he gets more access to his client and receives more information, he may issue an updated complaint broadening the scope of the damages claim to other individuals. They could include the security forces and other government members.

Mr Usmani, who has had only limited access to his lawyers and family since he was detained in late May, denies all allegations of bribery put forward by the authorities, says Mr Diaz.

The Dubai Islamic Bank declined to comment.

A government representative said the bank was currently handling the case itself. Dubai would continue to focus on judicial reform as a central part of the emirate’s overall strategy, the official added.

The detention of Mr Usmani comes amid another investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Deyaar, a Dubai developer that is 41 per cent owned by the Dubai Islamic Bank. The bank says it is not involved in any wrongdoing.

Zack Shahin, a US citizen and former chief executive of Deyaar, is one of four people detained in that case over the past few weeks. He denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Usmani, who had been the DIB’s vice-president of structured finance, says the current investigation started in early 2007, when the bank received an anonymous e-mail.

This alleged that one of the DIB’s business partners, CCH International, might have been violating Turkish law “by paying irregular commissions and obtaining credit facilities through DIB and then lending those same facilities to entities and individuals at very high rates”.

Mr Usmani claims that the bank forced him to resign last year, but then rejected his resignation, keeping him as an unpaid employee while the investigation continued.

He says that, in December, he was stopped at the airport from travelling to Pakistan for his daughter’s wedding, and then had his passport confiscated by the two individual defendants in the case, Obaid al-Shamsi, a former DIB legal officer, and Mohammed al-Marzouki, a government auditor.

British millionaire detained in Dubai

Monday, Jun 09, 2008

original published Zawya

(Adds share price and background)



DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)–British banker Charles Ridley, is being held by Dubai Police as part of a bribery investigation involving a former Dubai Islamic Bank

vice president, an official said Monday.

Ridley has been detained as part of a probe, which has seen former DIB vice president Rifat Al Islam Usmani being detained, a police official, who declined to be identified, told Zawya Dow Jones.



More than four people are being held so far in connection with the investigation at the largest Islamic lender in the United Arab Emirates, the police official said without giving further details about the identity of the detainees.

A spokesperson and officials from Dubai Islamic Bank weren’t immediately available for comment when called Monday.

It remains unclear on what grounds Ridley was detained and what’s his relation to the Dubai-based lender.

Dubai Islamic Bank shares closed down 0.5% to AED9.09 on the Dubai Financial Market.

Ridley’s detention is the latest in a series of financial scandals unfolding in Dubai following the arrest of Zack Shahin, the former chief executive of Deyaar the emirate’s third largest real estate company, on fraud allegations.

Deyaar is 41% owned by Dubai Islamic Bank

, according to Zawya.com data.

Dubai Islamic Bank Chart Data ’s rating was cut last month to “neutral” from “buy” at Merrill Lynch & Co., which cited the Deyaar corruption probe and concern over bad loans at the bank.

The lender is 34% owned by U.A.E. and Dubai government entities, according to Zawya.com data

-By Mirna Sleiman, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 364 4966, mirna.sleiman@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-06-08 1030GMT







original published Arabian Business 05 June 2008

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/521264-millionaire-bahrain-banker-held-in-dubai?ln=en



Bahrain-based British banker Charles Ridley has been detained by police in Dubai for almost a week, it has been revealed.

The British multi-millionaire met with British Consulate officials on Tuesday. An official later confirmed that Ridley was facing questions, but did not disclose the charges he was facing, Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News reported on Thursday.

Ridley’s arrest was believed to be related to investment funds which had put money into petro-chemical developments in Pakistan, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed source. It is believed a Dubai Islamic bank had also invested in the funds.

The newspaper also contacted Ridley’s wife who confirmed that British Consulate officials were granted access to her husband. However Ridley is yet to receive access to his legal advisers.

It is believed Ridley’s Bahrain-based business associate Rayan Cornelius has also been detained, the newspaper said.

Few details have emerged about Mr Ridley although he briefly made headlines in the UK in 2006 when he held a lavish 50th birthday party for his wife.

According to a report in Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper, the rugby-loving banker paid for several world-class international rugby players, including at least two members of England’s World Cup winning squad, to fly to Kenya for the party.

A family friend at the time told the the UK’s Sunday Telegraph Ridley had his “own parameters of fun, a different scale”.

“He works hard, enjoys life, and pushing the boundaries, and has a significant sense of family and friends,” the friend said.

The friend told the newspaper Ridley enjoyed life in Bahrain, where he moored a $3.8 million cruiser at the yacht club.

Dubai Property buyers ‘have right to residence visa’

original published Gulf News June 06, 2008
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/Immigration_and_Visas/10218957.html


Dubai: Freehold property buyers are fully entitled to residence visas, a senior government official has confirmed, quashing widespread confusion among homebuyers in the UAE.

Officials at Dubai’s Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) have confirmed that anyone who buys a freehold property in the emirate is entitled to residence in Dubai through the master-developer.

Omar Mattar Bin Mizaina, head of employment permits section at DNRD, said,”Anyone who buys a property can get a residence visa in Dubai.” There has been widespread concern and confusion in recent weeks among property buyers about this issue, with some believing that master developers had broken the contract as visas had not been issued.

Bin Mizaina said property owners can choose whether they want to be sponsored by their master developer or their employer.”You must be a property owner, but it depends on the Ministry of Labour, as some cases are given special approval. But, yes, you can choose,” he said.

This is good news for Dubai property owners, as it is seemingly a way of getting around the dreaded ban. Now, if you own a property, even if you resign or are sacked from your job, you will still have your residency visa and won’t have to leave the UAE.

However, Mohammad Bin Braik, chief operating officer of Dubai Properties Group, told Gulf News last week:”Resident visas for freehold buyers are subject to conditions which include that you cannot seek employment or run a business and one would assume the buyer has sufficient funds to support himself.”

Residence visas are given for one, two, or three years and are then renewed by the DNRD through the original sponsor.”As long as you own a property, you will have a residency visa,” Bin Mizaina said.

Delayed by developers

With the DNRD now clarifying the issue, it seems the delay in providing the promised residency visas lies with the master developers. Both Nakheel and Emaar have issued statements saying that they do sponsor freehold buyers for residency visas in line with the rules and procedures of the DNRD.

Despite the DNRD’s clear-cut process, many people in Dubai who have bought freehold properties have still not received their residency visas.

Bin Mizaina said that the master developer can apply for residency visas as soon as a property is bought and a contract is signed with buyer.

The law itself clearly states:”If the homeowner has no alternative means of sponsorship for a residence visa, the first owner may be sponsored by your master-developer for residency in Dubai, UAE, subject to the applicable immigration laws of the country.”

Legal issues

Bypassing Labour Law

An official at the Ministry of Labour said that no resident can jump an employment ban in the UAE.”A person with an employment ban can enter the UAE on a visit visa but this does not entitle him to work in the country. However, people staying in the country on a property linked residency visa and without an employment ban can work but after they obtain a work permit,” the official said.

Lawyer’s view

- According to advocate Mohammad Ebrahim Al Shaiba,
a resident may not work on a property residence visa unless an official work permit is obtained. The employee must cancel the property visa and change to his company’s sponsorship, but he may return to his property’s visa after he leaves his work.
-The work ban is not related to residence visa. Holders of property visas or the wives on husbands’ sponsorship can still stay in the UAE, while others may enter the country on a visit visa during the work ban. A property residence visa does not guarantee jobs. -

Damac Dubai – Investigation – Personal data of thousands compromised

original published: Arabian Business
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/521308-damac-clients-information-offered-on-ebay

Dubai 06.June.2008
Damac Properties has launched an investigation into how thousands of its customers personal details ended up for sale on Ebay for 750 pounds ($1,466), a senior company official told ArabianBusiness.com on Thursday.

Ten copies of a database with personal information on over 8,000 of the Dubai-based developer’s customers were put on the website on May 28.

According to the posting, the database includes information such as email addresses and phone numbers of “investors, VIPs, agents and high net worth individuals based in Dubai and across the world”.

“This database is highly sought after by every financial institution in the region and is worth millions,” the posting says.

The posting has since been removed following a flurry of complaints by investors.

Nile McLoughlin, senior vice president of corporate communications at Damac, said the company took customer confidentiality “very seriously” and a “comprehensive investigation” was taking place.

“We are aware of the auction taking place on Ebay and we have had the item removed from the site,” McLoughlin said.

“A comprehensive investigation is taking place and the relevant action will be taken as an outcome of this investigation.”

The incident comes less than two months after the saga surrounded the high profile cancellation and subsequent reinstatement of Damac’s Palm Springs project on the Palm Jebel Ali.

Original offer Ebay was:

Damac Ebay !!!!

---

Some joker is selling on ebay an excel file with all Damac’s customers details on!!!!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DUBAI-PROPERTY…QQcmdZViewItem

‘I have the most exclusive database of over 8,000 customers, investors, VIP’s, agents and high net worth individuals based in Dubai and across the world who have already invested and want to invest further in the UAE and region properties market.

List includes customers of Damac Properties the middle easts larget private developer!

This database is complete with contact details, email addresses, phone numbers and personal information.

The databse comprises of people who have invested in the properties market in Dubai and middle east.

This database is highly sort after by every financial institution in the region and is worth millions.

This offer is genuine and you will not be dissapointed. I will deliver the complete database in excel format’

UAE inflation hits alarming level

original published Arabian Business
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/520670-uae-inflation-hits-alarming-levels

Fears over how quickly the cost of living is accelerating in the UAE became very real on Wednesday when the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed inflation jumped to a record 14% last year.

The chamber said in a report, citing government estimates, that inflation had soared in 2007 on the back of rising fuel, food and housing costs, reaching a peak of 15% during the year.

The chamber described the situation as “alarming”.

At 14% the UAE would be suffering from the highest level of inflation in the GCC and one of the highest in the world.

The UAE has yet to release official inflation figures for 2007. The government said inflation stood at 9.3% in 2006 and nearly 4% in 2005.

The chamber’s 2007 figure is significantly higher than previous estimates, which have put 2007 inflation at between 10.9% and 11.4%.

Analysts have predicted inflation could touch 11.8% in 2008, but that could be eclipsed in light of the Abu Dhabi chamber’s findings, with fuel, food and housing costs continuing to rise this year.

“Inflation has steadily risen over the past three years to reach an alarming level in 2007, when it was estimated at as high as 15%,” the chamber said, quoted UAE daily Emirates Business 24/7.

“One of the root causes of this problem is the wave of hikes in petrol and diesel prices in the country, as such increases have led to higher construction costs, slashed the profit margin of the contractors and prompted house owners to raise rents sharply.

“Although the surge in rents was a major contribution to inflation in the UAE, the fuel price increases should not be ignored as they play a key part in pushing up rents to such an alarming level given their direct impact on various economic sectors, including construction and transport.”

The report will undoubtedly renew calls for the UAE to ditch its currency peg to the ailing US dollar, which has been blamed for increasing the cost of imports and restricting the central bank’s ability to fight inflation.

The UAE’s dollar peg forces the central bank to track US monetary policy to maintain the relative attractiveness of the dirham.

The US Federal Reserve has been slashing interest rates since September to stave off recession at a time when the UAE and other Gulf states should be hiking rates to rein in inflation.

IN PICS: Costs, taxes, charges
ArabianBusiness.com takes a look at some of the major extra costs residents in the UAE are facing.

Dubai`s expensive Office Market

Dubai May 29, 2008 —

London’s West End is once again the world’s most expensive office market, but Dubai has now entered the top ten for the first time, according to CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (CBRE) Research’s semi-annual Global Market Rents survey. The report tracks world markets with the highest as well as fastest-growing occupancy costs for the 12 months ended March 31, 2008. Moscow climbed to second position whilst Tokyo’s Inner Central Five Wards, Mumbai’s Nariman Point and Tokyo’s Outer Central Five Wards rounded out the top five most expensive markets.

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20080529082303

Top Ten Most Expensive Markets

1. London (West End), England

2. Moscow, Russia

3. Tokyo (Inner Central), Japan

4. Mumbai, India

5. Tokyo (Outer Central), Japan

6. London (City), England

7. New Delhi, India

8. Paris, France

9. Singapore

10. Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai – Buying Property in the first Market “It was a fiasco,” said one frustrated buyer :“They create all this hype, and then we

original published:
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080526/BUSINESS/753783571/1051/rss
Bradley Hope and Kelly Niknejad

Last Updated: May 26. 2008 9:30PM UAE / May 26. 2008 5:30PM GMT

DUBAI
Nakheel Sales Office

Hundreds of potential buyers, some of whom had specially flown into the country, were turned away by Nakheel yesterday after the waterfront property they were after sold out.

Overwhelming interest in Nakheel’s Badrah waterfront developments led to the cancellation of about 400 appointments with potential buyers.Badrah is a district with 45,000 homes, and Nakheel sold about 1,000 apartments on Sunday, the first day of a planned two-day sale, an official said. Another 60 apartments left over from Sunday were released to some customers yesterday, but the remaining hundreds of potential buyers missed out.

Observers have said in recent weeks that the speculative market for property in the UAE was becoming increasingly frantic. A large group of buyers at Aldar’s booth at Cityscape Abu Dhabi earlier this month had to be restrained by security guards, and there were reports last week of people waiting in line for more than 14 hours to buy at Emaar’s Bawadi project.The project was the third where Nakheel used an appointment-only system for sales to reduce the long queues that had accompanied project launches in recent months.

“It’s very difficult to estimate how many people will show up,” said Charlie Taylor, a communications manager for Nakheel. “More people turned up than our estimate, so we had to cancel most of the appointments for the second day.”

One buyer, who gave her name only as Sophia, said she had flown in from Russia for her appointment. Upon arriving at 9:30am, her scheduled time, she was told that her appointment had been cancelled. “It’s very unprofessional,” she said.

Several other buyers also said they had only found out about the cancellation upon arriving at the time of their appointment. “I was very surprised and very shocked to know that when I came here that they would not allow me in,” said one. Another buyer, Salah al Tamimi, the director of Intermaritime Financial, said that of seven appointments made by family members and friends, three were cancelled. “Some of my family were very upset,” he said. “But they cannot accommodate everyone. We bought some property, which makes me happy.”

Nakheel said that it sent out the cancellation notifications on Sunday evening by text message and email. The company would give the people with cancelled appointments priority at the next phase of sales for Badrah in the next two months, Mr Taylor said.

At the May 20 launch of Emaar’s Bawadi project, would-be buyers started lining up at 8:30pm the night before, people in the queue said. Many of them slept on the ground to hold their place.

The next day, only about 120 people were able to get into the sales office to buy apartments. The rest were told they would have priority at the next phase of sales.

“It was a fiasco,” said one frustrated buyer who missed out on an apartment after spending the night in line. “They create all this hype, and then we can’t get in.”

bhope@thenational.ae
kniknejad@thenational.ae

UAE residents get time to prepare for VAT

original published GulfNews 27, May 2008
http://archive.gulfnews.com/business/General/10216460.html

Dubai

The introduction of the value added tax (VAT), expected early next year, will depend on the government’s preparedness as well as the “taxpayers’ readiness”, a senior government official said.

We are working on it and will soon be ready for implementation.

The entire country will have to be ready for this,Abdul Rahman Al Saleh, executive director of Dubai Customs, told Gulf News on Monday evening.

It will depend on the government’s readiness as well as the taxpayers’ readiness.

Al Saleh told Reuters on Monday that the government has postponed the introduction of VAT from late 2008 to early 2009. “We were planning for the last quarter of 2008 but we have put it back to the first quarter of 2009,” he was quoted as saying.

The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states entered into a common customs union in 2003, after standardising the import duties largely at five per cent. Initially, VAT is expected to replace the customs duty and start at a very low tax level.

The introduction of the VAT is a federal government decision. We will, of course, give the people enough time for this after we get ready for it administratively,” Al Saleh added.

Interpol – ADCB Banker Wanted

original published 7days.ae

An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for the chief executive of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. “This is a personal matter linked to his personal divorce case and is not linked in any way to the bank’s activities,” the bank said in a statement. The capital’s third-largest bank said it supported Eirvin Knox, a 59-year-old American, who has headed ADCB since 2003.

The warrant was issued in the Philippines, where Knox once worked as the head of a major bank, and relates to “a violation of an early 2004 (Philippine) act pertaining to violence against women and their children,” Interpol sources said. The Interpol warrant is classified as a “red notice” which seeks the arrest of a wanted person with a view to extradition, they said.“He was married to a Filipina and she is a very well connected person,” a senior official at ADCB said. ADCB said Abu Dhabi courts had already ruled in favour of Knox and the “current matter is linked to the implementation of a sentence between him and his divorcee”.Knox did not respond immediately to calls for comment. The UAE Interior Ministry and police officials declined to comment. Knox joined ADCB having come from Ahli Bank of Kuwait, according to a biography on the Global Real Estate web site. He was a country chief executive for 24 years with Standard Chartered Bank and Continental Bank of Chicago, having started his career in the United States with earlier assignments including Wells Fargo Bank and Continental Bank, the web site said.According to World Trade Markets country guide, which contains information provided by the US Department of Commerce, Knox was previously the chief executive of Standard Chartered in the Philippines. Since joining the bank in 2003, Knox has overseen a near 400 per cent growth in net profit to dhs1.98 billion ($539 million) last year from 405 million in 2003.

___________________

ADCB stands by chief as Interpol issues warrant

The warrant, which was issued by Interpol’s Manila branch in the Philippines, accuses Knox of committing “crimes against life and health.”
The warrant was followed immediately by an official statement by ADCB, which denied that the offences are related to any banking activities, and emphasising its support for the chief executive.

Personal matter
“This is a personal issue not related to the bank’s business. The bank and its executive management confirm their full support and ratification of all the CEO’s actions,” the bank’s statement said.
“The issuance of an Interpol Red Notice against the CEO is just a personal issue regarding a matrimonial matter and has nothing to do with the bank’s business,” the statement further explained.
It also said the marital proceedings filed and examined before the UAE courts of law were resolved in favour of Knox and that the court decision is pending execution.
“Everything is possible in the Philippines, especially if you are well connected, and it seems that the financial settlement for the divorce set by the UAE courts did not appeal to the lady who seeks to pressure Knox for getting more out of him,” a top ADCB executive said.

“Interpol’s branch in the UAE respects the court’s decisions in this respect, and accordingly it did not contact the chief executive,” another ADCB official told Gulf News.

original punlished GulfNews.com

By Ahmed A. Elewa
© Gulf News 2008

Why Hotel Staff need a few tips

http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=72714
original published 7 days.ae

If you’ve ever had a bad experience at a hotel, you may well have grabbed the survey form carefully placed between a postcard and an envelope that wouldn’t stick if Lassie licked it for a week. You’ll show them for not putting a chocolate on your pillow, as with pen in hand you viciously scribble sarcastic remarks in the margin.

Don’t be surprised if you still feel uptight once you’ve filled in the form – because the questions are so benign:
Do you like our hotel a little or a lot?
Do you like your tea in a cup or in your lap?

What about how I hate this hotel for not putting a chocolate on my pillow? I’ve been travelling forever, I haven’t slept properly for days and I’ve had enough with hotels not getting it right.
It is time those ridiculous hotel survey forms became more realistic – now!

1) Would you like a free glass of cheap orange juice and a 30-minute wait because the 42 emails sent months in advance were ignored OR a quick stress-free check-in that got you to your room with a minimum of fuss?

2) Would you like a buffet breakfast that partially caters to your taste, where all the food is old and tired because it’s been kept hot for hours on end OR would you like your hot breakfast food cooked to order, sizzling, fresh and the way you like it?

3) Would you like tea or coffee from a server whose idea of fresh would make an embalmer blush OR would you like genuinely fresh beverages made the old-fashioned way and delivered to your table with flair?

4) Do you want internet or telephone services harder to fathom than the layout of a QWERTY keyboard and more expensive than marrying Heather Mills OR cost-efficient systems designed for a fair price and ease of use?

5) Would you like your cutlery, crockery and unfinished food cleared away because you paused a second too long while eating, even though you are not finished, OR would you like your table cleared once everyone has finished or when you request it as is standard in all good establishments (regardless of any amount of uneducated customers’ requests in the past)?

6) Around the pool, would you like there to be a realistic ratio of sunbeds to guests OR would you rather spend 45 minutes of the hour you were going to spend around the pool searching for the one rickety sun bed in the whole area for your family of four to share?

7) Would you rather have staff who chant simple mantras like ‘Good morning’ or ‘Hello’ every few minutes without any thought because they’d been told to do so OR have well-trained staff who anticipate your needs and have the ability to problem solve effectively with a minimum of fuss?

8) Would you like staff to ignore your ‘Do not disturb’ sign OR would you rather have staff respect your privacy?

9) Would you like staff who ‘yes’ you to death OR staff who listen attentively and ask you to explain if they don’t understand something?

10) Would you unequivocally recommend such a hotel to all your friends and praise it to everyone you meet OR realise that you were simply having a dream, that you are laying on the chocolate meant for your pillow and you are just having a bad day?

Greg Hunt is an author, journalist and occasional insomniac. Email him at: lockmanhunt@gmail.com

Wall Street Journal – Scandals in Dubai Cast a Cloud

original published Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120941603017750659.html
and
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidDN20080428017680/lok233629080428?weeklynewsletter&zawyaemailmarketing

Some Problem Deals In Real Estate May Dent Trust
By MARGARET COKERApril 29, 2008; Page C2

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — This city-state’s real-estate market is booming. Massive building projects scrape the sky. Sales and rental prices appear buoyant as investments flow in from other oil-rich Persian Gulf states, the former Soviet Union, India and Iran.

But a series of legal tussles and property-related scandals could dent foreign-investor confidence and tarnish the business-friendly reputation the government has tried so hard to burnish.
Earlier this month, the chief executive of one of Dubai’s largest publicly traded developers was jailed. And two disputes involving European and U.S. investors have raised concerns about Dubai’s regulatory and legal safeguards.
Foreigner-Friendly

The U.A.E., a collection of seven, semiautonomous emirates, was the first of the Arab Gulf states to allow foreign-property ownership. The country, a major oil producer, remains at the center of the Gulf region’s construction surge. More than a third of the estimated $1.2 trillion in projects under way in the region are in the oil-rich U.A.E., according to a report by the London-based Middle East Economic Digest, which tracks building projects.

While Dubai lacks the big oil reserves of its neighbor Abu Dhabi, it has diversified away from petroleum, building a reputation as a hub for tourism, business and transportation. Crucial to that strategy are its development projects.
Dubai has regaled tourists and investors alike with megaprojects such as the construction of Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, and the planned Palm developments, three separate man-made island clusters in the shape of palm trees.

“The perception of Dubai is based on the Burj, the Palm trilogy and sunshine 365 days a year. So far, you could call it a successful marketing campaign,” said Martin Kohlhase, a senior analyst in Dubai for Moody’s Investors Service, the credit-rating company. “There is so much at stake.”
Marwan bin Ghalita, chief executive of Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency, said he has worked hard over the past few months to improve rule making and enforcement among Dubai’s 742 licensed developers. “We are doing a very good job, but there are still lots of things to do to achieve awareness about the rules and procedures here,” said Mr. bin Ghalita.

Deyaar Development PJSC said earlier this month that its former chief executive, Zack Shahin, had left the company and was being held by Dubai police. The company, listed on the local stock exchange, disclosed the moves after the Zawya Dow Jones wire service reported the arrest.
Mr. Shahin, a U.S. citizen, is being held as part of an investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing at the company. In a jail-house interview, he told the wire service he was innocent.

Mystery has shrouded the case, raising concerns about the extent of its repercussions on the company, one of Dubai’s biggest developers. A Deyaar spokeswoman declined to comment.
Another project — on the Palm Jebel Ali archipelago, one of the three clusters — also recently became a battleground between a Dubai developer and disgruntled investors.
In 2003, Damac Properties, one of Dubai’s largest private developers, sold apartments in a 25-story building, known as Palm Springs. The company targeted British investors, eager to snap up retirement or rental properties.

Last month, Damac sent letters to those investors, saying the project had been canceled, giving few details. When investors pressed, they were told Palm Jebel Ali’s government-controlled master developer, Nakheel PJSC, hadn’t given Damac suitable land on which to build.
‘Out of the Blue’

Damac promised to return investors’ money, plus 6% interest, or give discounts on another Damac property. The Palm Springs apartments were sold for about $220 a square foot, according to investors. Current market prices in the same area are as much as $890 a square foot.
“It came out of the blue,” said Colin Murray, who lives southwest of London and bought two Palm Springs apartments.

Mr. Murray helped band together 80 investors in the United Kingdom. They filed a formal complaint with Dubai’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency. Nakheel denied it had caused the project cancellation, and regulatory officials launched talks between Nakheel and Damac. Damac then told investors that the project was back on.

The agency’s Mr. bin Ghalita said Dubai law gives Damac six months to start construction. He said he “would be keeping my eye” on the situation.

The controversy over Palm Springs was just the most prominent in a series of property-investor complaints. The local English-language press has reported stories of middle-class families being bilked by unlicensed brokers or unscrupulous developers who have taken large deposits and failed to deliver. And then there are delays in finishing construction. Damac has completed only 18% of its $30 billion real-estate portfolio.
Financiers in Tussle

It isn’t only small investors getting ensnared. U.S. private-equity firm Capital Partners, a real-estate-development arm of McKinley Reserve, of Wisconsin, is in a $1 billion legal dispute with Tecom Investments, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding, which is owned by Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

In 2005, Capital Partners and Tecom signed a contract allowing the Americans to develop a 15-hectare site called Riverwalk. Months later, however, the deal had turned sour. Capital Partners accused Tecom of selling it land that it didn’t own, specifically, almost a hectare that was a designated archaeological site.

With $10 million already sunk into the project, Capital Partners refused to make a scheduled second payment to Tecom until the ownership issues had been worked out. Tecom said that missed payment was grounds to terminate the contract. The case is before the Dubai International Arbitration Center, an independent tribunal.

Fourth arrest confirmed in Deyaar probe

original published
Arabian Business
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/517896-four-people-detained-over-financial-irregularities-at-deyaar?ln=en

Four people have now been detained over alleged financial irregularities at Dubai developer Deyaar, although formal charges have yet to brought in the case, a Public Prosecution source confirmed on Tuesday.The source told ArabianBusiness.com a fourth person was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the investigation, but could not confirm earlier media reports the person is also a company employee. The Public Prosecution has also extended former Deyaar CEO Zack Shanin’s detention period by one month, the source said.More arrests could follow, the source said.

“Investigations are still underway, but we expect to lay charges later. It takes time. We are investigating reports one by one and Deyaar is also investigating,” the source said.The other arrests in the case are a Lebanese sales manager who was detained on Monday, and an Indian national who was detained on Wednesday.RELATED: Third arrest in Deyaar probeRELATED: Deyaar scandal escalates with second arrest Public information is scarce on the high-profile case, which broke on April 17 when Deyaar informed Dubai Financial Market (DFM) that Shahin had been detained for three weeks and had subsequently resigned his position.RELATED: Deyaar CEO detained, faces investigationDeyaar has refused to comment on Shanin’s arrest or the investigation.According to media reports, the Public Prosecution is investigating company fraud valued at 120 million dirhams ($33 million), but this is unconfirmed by both the Public Prosecution and Deyaar.At a meeting of Deyaar’s board of directors on April 20, members Hussein Hassan Mirza Mohammed Al-Sayegh and Sultan Ahmad Khalfan Al-Ghaith also resigned, the company said in a statement without saying why. Abdullah Ali Al-Hamli and Butti Abdulla Al-Jumairi replaced the two directors, Deyaar said.RELATED: Deyaar confirms two directors resign Deyaar, an affiliate of Dubai Islamic Bank, develops, rents and manages properties and operates according to Islamic law, or sharia, which bans borrowing or lending on interest.The firm reported a first-quarter profit of 202 million dirhams ($55.01 million) with revenue in the quarter hitting 460 million dirhams.

City Talk-Taking fire safety at home seriously

original published Gulf News

People should remember to switch off all appliances before travelling in the summer, especially the lights, to avoid a fire, says Butti Saif Al Muhairi Manager.

Taking fire safety at home seriously
Staff Reporters
Published: March 30, 2008, 00:55

Dubai/ Fujairah/ Abu Dhabi: Fire escapes, extinguishers and alarms: Does your home have what it takes to cope with a fire?

While many people spend their days at the office and worry about safety standards at the workplace, one should not neglect safety standards at home, which is where everyone returns to in the evening to have a safe night’s rest.

In a recent Gulf News poll, 73 per cent of respondents said their company had never organised a fire drill.

A smaller percentage, 19 per cent, said their company had organised a fire drill six months previously, while 5 per cent said the last time one took place was one year before and the remaining 3 per cent said two years before.

more…http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/City_Talk/10201458.html