For example, I remember when the Trade Centre opened there were rumours that it was falling over. And the then-new Shindagah Tunnel was about to collapse. Both are still there, in good order, so the same rumours have been transferred to new projects.
There are two current persistent rumours that I can shoot down, relating to the Al Sufouh Tram and the Metro stations.
First the tram. Rumour has it that the RTA has run out of money so work on the tram system has stopped and thousands of workers have been sent home.
In fact the work is continuing as before.
Every day I see trucks delivering concrete parts for the elevated section, which is being completed at a fast pace...
Then the Metro. Word is that the contractor has stopped work on all the stations as he hasn't been paid.
In fact work is continuing as normal...
12 comments:
What about the rumour that the bridge from the Green to Knowledge Village has not been completed as the engineer will not release the completion certificate due to non payment of invoices.
The bridge and approaches have been finished for some time on both sides, but nothing - so it seems plausable and as a consultant I know that non payment for completed work is a huge issue in Dubai (not just a romour).
non payment for completed work is a huge issue in Dubai (not just a romour)
That's not a rumour it's openly talked about in the media here and overseas. I've posted about it many times on this blog too.
This post was talking about the specific rumour that work on the Metro stations had stopped.
There have been several rumors that i have come across during my 11 years in Dubai. Out of which I can guarantee 95% were just non existence of several people's common sense.
If there were any place for a Guinness record for a city with highest amount of rumors, then Dubai will brag it due to large expatriate who just can't appreciate but are jealous because their homeland is not as good or visionary as Dubai, for the same UAE in overall. In general, I think people need to learn to thank. Then these rumors will come to a stop.
A lot of energy and time is wasted by many people here just talking absolute illogical things about UAE.
But all in all, kiddos to UAE who never stops, who always seem to solve crisis and prove people wrong. This land has given opportunities so lets say THANK YOU UAE for the good life. Ofcourse, every expatriate is here because the country gave them better than their home.
One of the tram project manager's told me they were owed huge amounts of money (several hundred million dhs) and that the RTA is pretty much broke because of all the money they spent on the metro.
Well done Mazhar, unfortunately for you, the UAE doesnt hand out passports for brown-nosing on blogs.
There are many people here whose homelands are not bad and just because they dont compete for tall towers doesnt mean they arent "visionary", whatever that word means.
As for saying "thank you", yes sure, but dont forget many expatriates are contributing their skills in return for money, its NOT a one way relationship as you make it sound. No expatriate is weaning off Dubai that compels them to say thank you...
Anyways, one reason there are many rumors here is because official news doesnt cover many things.
Of course the situation is better now than 20 years ago.
Dubai has a much more active rumour mill than anywhere else I've lived.
Could this be because the press in Dubai is less free than in those other places in which you have lived?
Could this be because the press in Dubai is less free than in those other places in which you have lived?
Ssshh, dont ask succint questions !
Its much better to claim that rumors happen because of expats jealous of Dubai's "vision" and that we should be prostrating on the ground and thanking Dubai for feeding us .
Anon@12.26, press freedom is only a small part of it. The general lack of transparency by companies and government is a much bigger factor, but neither factors explain the sort of rumours we get here. For example, rumours that the Trade Centre was falling over (and later the same rumour about Burj Al Arab and now Burj Dubai) have nothing to do with transparency or media freedom.
The media in Singapore, where I've lived, is also closely controlled but there's not the same kind of rumour mill that we have here.
For the metro stations it is very simple, the contracts are awarded to many contractors and sub contracting is a normal thing in getting things done all around the world.
The metro has not been paid - it was set up as a 'managed service' style contract with the large capital costs held by Mitsubishi and paid off monthly by the client. They haven't paid their monthly bills (some 1 million odd dirhams a month) for at least the last six months.
Of course work hasn't stopped on the stations. If DURL stops working, then RTA aren't legally obliged to pay them. They're just cutting their losses and hoping that eventually some of that Abu Dhabi bailout cash will eventually trickle down.
Whether you'd see even just the Red Line actually finished by the end of 2010 though is quite another matter....
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