Whodunnit at Business Bay

zoom

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.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM