Sharjah's Ruler wants the gutted villa in Al Madam to be repaired so that family members can return to their home.
Sharjah's Ruler wants the gutted villa in Al Madam to be repaired so that family members can return to their home.

Sharjah ruler orders rebuilding of burnt home that killed father and son



SHARJAH // A villa destroyed by a fire that claimed the lives of a father and son is being repaired on the orders of the emirate's ruler.

The 53-year-old Emirati and his eldest son, 20, died of suffocation while rescuing 12 members of their family.

The survivors were taken to Al Dhaid Hospital in Sharjah. The mother, 45, and her eight-year-old son were later airlifted to Al Mafraq Hospital and Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi, where they are recovering.

The villa in Al Madam area of Sharjah, close to the border with Oman, was gutted by the blaze.

Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, the Ruler of Sharjah, ordered the repair work after visiting members of the family at a relative's home in Al Fili.

Ruined and fire-damaged furniture was removed on Sunday and painting is due to start this week so the family can return home as soon as possible, said Hadi Khalfan Al Kitibi, one of eight remaining children.

He said Sheikh Sultan's visit to offer his condolences had helped the family deal with the loss of their loved ones.

"We are praying for our father and brother who lost their lives saving their family, to have this brave action accepted by God and grant them paradise," he said.

"We are also very grateful to Sheikh Sultan and the whole UAE Government for the support and care they have given us during these trying moments."

Mr Al Kitibi, who is married and lives in an annex next to the villa, said the siblings planned to travel to Abu Dhabi to help take care of their mother and brother while they are in hospital.

"Their condition is improving steadily and we still pray for their full recovery," he added.

The fire broke out at about 2am. Col Dr Abdul Qader Al Amiri, director of Sharjah Police's forensic laboratory, said initial investigations suggested the blaze was caused by faulty electrical wiring in a living room on the first floor.

The father carried his wife and children to safety one at a time on his back, putting them on the villa's veranda before going back to collect others.

Neighbours also helped in the rescue before firefighters arrived at the scene. The blaze was brought under control in less than 30 minutes.

The father and son were buried in Al Madam cemetery on Friday.

Col Al Amiri said the house had only one door, a breach of fire-safety requirements.

Dr Sheikh Sultan also announced development projects in the area, including building new roads and paving existing ones and constructing more houses for Emiratis. Also being built are schools, hospitals and a civil defence station that would be able to respond to fires and other emergencies in the area swiftly.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”