Dubai's Al Sufouh Tram project back on track

Dubai has raised US$675 million (Dh2.47 billion) to restart a tram project that has been stalled for the past three years.

Work on the construction of Al Sufouh Tram in Dubai is resuming after the Department of Finance yesterday announced it had secured the bank funding.

Arranged through Citibank, Deutsche Bank and HSBC, the money will allow the completion of the first phase of the project, the construction of a 10-kilometre-long track from Dubai Marina to the Knowledge Village.

The deal comprises a 13-year, $401m loan guaranteed by the official government export credit agencies of Belgium and France -the amount will amortise over 10 years starting in 2015 - and a six-year $274m Islamic Ijara facility, split between US dollars and UAE dirhams and amortising over three years, also starting in 2015.

This month, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority awarded a 13-year maintenance contract to a consortium comprising Alstom and Cofely Besix Facility Management.

That contract is worth €120m (Dh583.2m), including €68m for Alstom, the consortium's leader, and €52m for Cofely. It includes an option for a €50m, five-year extension.

dblack@thenational.ae

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Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.

Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.