Construction has resumed on one of the largest developments within Dubai's financial free zone after a Dh700 million (US$190.5m) contract was awarded to a joint venture that includes Australia's biggest builder.
It comes eight months after Daman Investments, the developer, cancelled a deal with Oger Dubai, a unit of Saudi Oger.
The Buildings by Daman towers development was launched in 2005 and includes a 20-storey office block, a 60-storey hotel and a 60-storey apartment building.
It is among a number of upcoming projects in Dubai's financial district, including Index tower, a residential and office building by Union Properties.
Al Habtoor Leighton, a joint venture between Dubai's Al Habtoor Engineering and Australia's Leighton International formed in 2007, expects to complete the project by December next year, two years after the original deadline.
The joint venture last year lost about Dh12 billion from its order book through cancelled contracts in the UAE as a result of the financial downturn, but it has a number of new deals in the pipeline across the Middle East, according to its managing director Laurie Voyer.
"While there has been an adjustment to the Dubai building market, there are still a number of prospects for us with clients who value quality and creative delivery mechanisms," Mr Voyer said, adding that "Dubai remains part of the group's ongoing growth plans".
Despite the slowdown in the Emirates, he said the company was "seeing opportunities in large-scale infrastructure across the region".
Leighton International, which is listed on the Australian stock exchange, owns 45 per cent of the joint-venture company.
Al Habtoor Leighton is one of about 11 firms that have pre-qualified to build the Louvre Abu Dhabi and it is also bidding for the Guggenheim museum. Both form part of the Cultural District at Saadiyat Island, a project by the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC).
The company is chasing the contracts in partnership with South Africa's Murray & Roberts.
Mr Voyer said in May the company was also pursuing oil-related construction deals worth an estimated Dh2.57bn in Iraq as it capitalised on the country's plans to expand oil production. A spokesman for the company said the deals had yet to be finalised.
The group's current backlog of projects is worth about Dh23bn.
Among Al Habtoor Leighton's ongoing projects are Dubai Pearl, where the company is building four 73-storey towers in a contract worth Dh8.85bn when it was awarded in late 2008.
Construction on the project is continuing, although the deadline has been put back by two years, with completion expected in 2013.
The company is also working on a number of projects in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where it formed a partnership with Al Rajhi Projects and Construction, a contractor based in Riyadh, last year.
agiuffrida@thenational.ae
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
The studios taking part (so far)
- Punch
- Vogue Fitness
- Sweat
- Bodytree Studio
- The Hot House
- The Room
- Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
- Cryo
McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st
Results
Light Flyweight (49kg): Mirzakhmedov Nodirjon (UZB) beat Daniyal Sabit (KAZ) by points 5-0.
Flyweight (52kg): Zoirov Shakhobidin (UZB) beat Amit Panghol (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (56kg): Kharkhuu Enkh-Amar (MGL) beat Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov (UZB) 3-2.
Lightweight (60kg): Erdenebat Tsendbaatar (MGL) beat Daniyal Shahbakhsh (IRI) 5-0.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Baatarsukh Chinzorig (MGL) beat Shiva Thapa (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Bobo-Usmon Baturov (UZB) beat Ablaikhan Zhussupov (KAZ) RSC round-1.
Middleweight (75kg): Jafarov Saidjamshid (UZB) beat Abilkhan Amankul (KAZ) 4-1.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Ruzmetov Dilshodbek (UZB) beat Meysam Gheshlaghi (IRI) 3-2.
Heavyweight (91kg): Sanjeet (IND) beat Vassiliy Levit (KAZ) 4-1.
Super Heavyweight ( 91kg): Jalolov Bakhodir (UZB) beat Kamshibek Kunkabayev (KAZ) 5-0.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
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The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.