Monday, March 26, 2007

The beach background facts

I've previously talked about the fence going up along the beach at Umm Suqeim, here and on the UAE Community Blog, the media has had some stories and there's now a website petition to 'save our beach'.

Here's the background.

The day after the fence started to appear, the newspapers ran a press release from Zabeel Investments:

"Zabeel Investments has begun work on a new 4.5 million square foot coastal development on Jumeirah Beach in Umm Suqeim, a company statement said.

"The unique mixed-use development will comprise residential, commercial and hospitality facilities reflecting a beachfront lifestyle," it said.

Located on the prestigious stretch in Umm Suqeim, the development will cover both existing and reclaimed land and will overlook the Burj Al Arab located just down the coast.

"We are in the early stages of this development and will shortly announce details of the project when finalised," Mohammad Ali Al Hashimi, executive chairman of Zabeel Investments, said."


If you go to the Dubai International Financial Centre website you'll find that Zabeel Investments has two directors and two shareholders listed. One is Mr. Mohammed Ali Ridha Ali Al Hashimi, the gentleman quoted in the press release.

The other is Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

I wouldn't bet on the petition to 'save our beach' being successful.

3 comments:

caz said...

Just checking Seebee to see if the system works.

trailingspouse said...

This particular Sheikh Hamdan is one of Sheikh Mohammed's sons, isn't he? He seems to have been getting quite a lot of press lately, to say nothing of some high level positions for someone so young. Do you think he's being groomed as a potential successor?

Seabee said...

ts, yes, Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid. Amongst other positions he's Chairman of Dubai Executive Council. My bet is that he will be named as the Crown Prince before too long.