RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: Dubai: "Eighth blunder" of the world Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:44 pm | |
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DUBAI'S sheikhs have claimed it is "the eighth wonder of the world", and seen from space the tree-shaped sand and rock formation of the Palm Jumeirah looks exactly that.
But after the hype about David Beckham buying a mansion here and the novelty of living six kilometres out to sea has faded, that claim is starting to look shaky. It seems there is a little trouble in paradise.
Four thousand "Palm pioneers" have moved in and are getting to grips with life in the sweltering Arabian Gulf.
Multimillion-dollar villas have been squeezed together, air-conditioning bills are hitting $A1690 a month and persistent snags have led some to joke it is more "eighth blunder" than eighth wonder.
For Rachael Wilds, 42, from England, who moved in with her family a year ago, it was not what she expected. She found her $A6.3 million property squashed against a neighbour's and set in a barren landscape.
"It was absolutely nothing as it was depicted in the brochure," she says.
Despite summer temperatures of 48 degrees, air-conditioning was not included in the price of apartments, and residents are not happy.
More seriously, there is evidence the low pay and hard conditions endured by the thousands of migrant workers who built the area are driving many into despair and debt.
Palm Jumeirah is the testing ground for the United Arab Emirates' strategy for life after oil — big-scale tourism. Once complete, there will be accommodation for 65,000 people on the man-made island.
A nagging guilt for some residents is the quality of life of the migrant construction workers.
Most are from India and Bangladesh and they travel in bus convoys from labour camps in the desert each day. A typical labourer earns $A52 a week.
LNK |
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CovOps
Location : Ether-Sphere Job/hobbies : Irrationality Exterminator Humor : Über Serious
| Subject: Re: Dubai: "Eighth blunder" of the world Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:30 am | |
| Wait till the sea level rises...
Somebody should have told them:
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