Top Masdar execs quit as bosses order 'rethink' on project

Sunday, 28 February 2010 10:05 AM

AMBITIOUS: The $22bn Masdar City development is understood to be in the middle of a six-week review.

Two of Masdar City’s most senior executives have quit the project, with CEO Sultan Al Jaber now understood to be enforcing a comprehensive ‘rethink’ of the development.

Arabian Business understands that both Ziad Tassabehji and Khaled Awad have left the $22bn development – billed as the world’s first zero-carbon city - in recent weeks.

Tassabehji, the former director of Innovation and Investments, was widely seen as a ‘founding father’ of the project. He was on both the executive and investment committees of the Masdar Clean Tech Fund.

Awad, as director of property development, also played a key role. Just last month, he assured reporters that the project was “on track” to open in 2013. However, the director quit his post soon afterwards.

Asked about the resignations, a spokesperson for Masdar said: “It’s normal for fast growing global companies to see staff turnover as they evolve; people will always come and go and we are very comfortable with change.”

In 2007, Masdar unveiled ambitious plans to invest in renewable energy projects such as the world’s first city to rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

However, Arabian Business understands that Masdar CEO Sultan Al Jaber has now asked for a comprehensive six-week review of the project’s original plans. This began two weeks ago.

Asked whether this meant the project was now effectively suspended for a month, the spokesperson said: “Masdar City continues to move forward. All projects - especially those of a visionary nature - require a constant process of review, evaluation and scaling to ensure the execution of the vision matches the needs of the market and the developments of the business.

“Masdar is by definition a work in progress. Our development activities constantly inform the way we manage and evolve our projects.”

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Posted by: Kaptain Monday, 1 March 2010 9:54 AM[UAE] - UAE

Shadi.. I respect your views and agree with them.. but.. read between the lines..

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Posted by: Shadi Sunday, 28 February 2010 6:28 PM[UAE] - Qatar

slow down Kaptain! can we consider the founding fathers of USA quiting their revolution against the British Crown to create their nation a "Normal Procedures"? or can we imagine SK Zayed (may god bless his soul) changing his mind and dropping behind his back the dream of building UAE to be a "Normal Procedures"? these people spend years thinking and gathering the required experience to start such a dream; it must be an extraordinary circumstances that made them resigned !!!

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Posted by: joe Sunday, 28 February 2010 6:26 PM[UAE] - Australia

A note: 1. Mr. Frank Waterz replaced Mr. Ziad Tassabehji 2. Mr. Alan Frost replaced Mr. Khaled Awad Things shall be taken normally as a consequence of adaptation to the current stage requirements. Source: Aswaq.net

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Posted by: Austin Sunday, 28 February 2010 6:12 PM[UAE] - UAE

Where is the demand for all the office and residential accomodation that is being built? Hotels in Abu Dhabi are now half empty because of the glut of provision that has come onto the market. There are too many developments at once for the demand. There needs to be a complete rethink, and scaling back. We have Suwah, Reem, Saadiyat, Mina Zayed, Lulu, Raha Beach, Yas, and Capital City, aside from Masdar. Rationalisation of these is desperately needed, or there will just be disordered dislocated clusters at each of these with desert in between. Not good.

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Posted by: mentabolism Sunday, 28 February 2010 3:48 PM[UAE] - Kuwait

People who lead from the front play a very important role in any project. More so, in this case as it is an innovative project, the likes of which are not seen in many place around the world. Top management leaving, especially those who conceptualized and are key in implementing such projects will leave a serious gap. Hiring someone new, for a project like this may not be as easy as it sounds. This is sure to cause doubts in the mind of investors in an already jittery atmosphere.

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