Whodunnit at Business Bay

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Work continues on projects within Business Bay in spite of infrastructure problems. (Getty Images)

Developers in Dubai are pushing ahead with projects with little regard for infrastructure, according to an MEP coordinator working in Business Bay.

The ongoing power shortage has spread throughout many of the developments in the area.

The Business Bay area of Dubai is facing crippling power shortages with at least one tower - Al Shafar General Contracting's (ASGC) Citadel Tower - being forced to rely on a temporary generator for commissioning.

Ahmed Nadi, an MEP coordinator working on a second Business Bay tower being developed by Omniyat that is also lacking power said, "It is not only my project that is affected. The lack of power is affecting many of the projects here."

He said it was the responsibility of sub-developers to check the status of the infrastructure.

"Before contracts can be signed by tenants you need to know that the building will be ready in time for those tenants. But sub-developers have purchased land and begun building without checking on the infrastructure."

Omniyat Properties spokesperson Jumar Preena said, "Omniyat Properties is taking all measures to avoid any power-out situation at every development site by making provisions for standby generators  should they be required."

ASGC project coordination manager Bassem Kheir said developers and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) were at fault.

Dewa officials were unavailable to comment.

"I used to work before with Dewa as a sub-contractor," Kheir said. "The problem in the beginning (was with) the planning department for Dewa.

"They estimate the electricity needs based on the projects for the next year, and expand their facilities based on that."

Nadi also said that the situation was proving advantageous to contractors, as they were able to push back completion dates for particular projects without complaints. "Contractors can easily demonstrate their rights to that," Nadi said.

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