Not-so-ancient Creek history

40 years of the UAE: The dredging of Dubai Creek turned the city into a major Gulf commercial centre, but a longtime small boat operator says the growth also cut into his business.

Living history: Moosa Ali Wahadi aboard his abra number 94 on Dubai Creek. Pawan Singh / The National

DUBAI // Dubai Creek is a second home for the abra operator Moosa Ali Wahadi.

His familiarity with the long, winding waterway dates back to 1972, when he started ferrying passengers from the banks of Bur Dubai to Deira and back in his traditional boat.

Mr Wahadi, 59, says the Creek's landscape and its environs have changed dramatically in the past four decades.

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"All these buildings were not there," the friendly Iranian boatman recalls, steering his abra towards the station.

"There were no banks. It was only the fish market on the other side and the rest was empty.

"There were about 40 dhows in total taking people across. But now there are more than 150 boats."

Today, Dubai Creek is a bustling waterway that attracts tourists, traders and residents.

Commercial dhows, dinner cruises, abras and water taxis ply the busy route every day. They ferry cargo, commuters and visitors who are keen to experience history, and to visit the souqs that have sprung up on either side.

The trade's beginnings lie in 1959, a year after Sheikh Rashid became the Ruler of Dubai. He ordered the dredging and deepening of the Creek, which separates the city's trading quarters of Bur Dubai from the business centre of Deira.

Both areas have traditionally served as the emirate's commercial centres. The first major dredging was done to remove the silt that had accumulated over the years. This made the Creek deeper and easier to navigate.

An Austrian company was contracted to complete the project.

Within six months, the deepening of the Creek had turned the small coastal city of Dubai into a major Gulf port.

"Anyone cruising on the waterway was likely to encounter McDermott's huge barges loaded with an equally huge steel structure making its way down the Creek out to the oilfields," the long-time resident Len Chapman recalls on his website, dubaiasitusedtobe.com.

"All the dhows and abras on the Creek would have to get out of its way or risk being run over."

In 1975 dredging began again, but this time it was to reclaim land and make way for the buildings, banks and streets lining the two sides of the waterway.

"The main idea was to make roads around the Creek," says Rashad Bukhash, the director of the architectural heritage department at Dubai Municipality.

"It was for beautification and also to facilitate the parking of boats for loading and unloading."

The project paved the way for the Corniche, as well as the busy Baniyas and Al Khaleej roads. But the reclamation, which began on the Deira side, reduced the Creek's size by about 20 metres.

Mr Wahadi, who manoeuvres abra number 94, is well-known by fellow dhow operators as the longest-serving boatman on Dubai Creek.

He moved to the Emirates at the age of 10 with his family and started work in a laundry, after which he worked in an Emirati's house.

"I used to work at their house for half a day and the rest I used to be on the dhow," Mr Wahadi says.

"I started working on the dhow full time after I realised it paid more."

He misses the old times, when there were more passengers and fewer boats to take them across.

Mr Wahadi now works a couple of hours less than he used to, from 8am to late evening, stocking his little boat with fruits, nuts and water to sustain him through the day.

A locked money box is among his belongings, to help him to store the fares from passengers.

The changes along the Creek have brought an influx of operators eating into Mr Wahadi's business. Increased fuel costs and daily rent to the owner now leave him with little to take home.

"At that time it was a good job, there was good money and there was no stress," he says, reminiscing about the Creek's earlier days. "I liked taking people across."