Fujairah Collage

Fujairah Collage
Some distinctive landmarks in Fujairah

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Positive Development in Fujairah but Many Waiting to Get the Power On

Vivian Salama’s article today in Bloomberg features the attractive appearance of the UAE that often masks the underlying hardship and pain.

She says that the billions of petrodollars spent on the English football club, Manchester City, the theme parks, the new hotels and the forthcoming elections can draw attention away from the harsh realities of buildings and projects that have come to a halt, the falling rents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and the high unemployment figures.

Power in Fujairah

Fujairah and the other Northern Emirates (RAK and Sharjah) are cited for the ongoing power cuts.

However, in Fujairah the problem is not power cuts but the large number of businesses, apartment towers and villas that are still waiting to be connected to electrical power.

Waiting to Be Connected

One business in the Fujairah Freezone has been waiting for an electrical connection since 2008 and continuing to run their operation on the more expensive diesel generator alternative.

While the very real positive atmosphere in Fujairah is attributable in no small part to the number of new businesses that have commenced in recent days, many of them such as the Al Tayer Motors and the RAK Airways Office, are operating from a generator.

Those responsible for the development of the UAE tend to be overwhelmingly upbeat and silent about the shortcomings. Some commentators write from a default position that ignores the positive signs and is intent on bashing the government and its departments regardless.

One yearns for a greater transparency of the statistics and the issues so that people can be informed and arrive at their own considered assessment.

Read Further

Vivian Salama, Abu Dhabi’s Spending on Soccer, Skyscrapers Masks Slower Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, 21 September 2011.

Geoff Pound

More Fujairah news, info, resources and photos are posted on the Fujairah in Focus Facebook Page.

Image: “Many of them such as the Al Tayer Motors…are operating from a generator. “

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