Roadworks and lorries: Business Bay saga...

When you get off the Metro at Business Bay, you cannot avoid it: construction work. Before you reach any kind of settlement, you first need to find your way through an area of sand filled with excavators, trucks, unfinished buildings and a lot of red tape to show the pedestrian where he is supposed to walk.

It has been like this ever since I came to live here, says Rehan Khan, 30, from Pakistan, who has been living in Business Bay for one-and-a-half year. He lives in one of the buildings further up, and needs to pass the construction site every day.

The blueprint looks promising. Masterminded by Dubai Property Groups (DPG), Business Bay is set to become the new business capital of Dubai. It is located between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al-Khail Road and it is offering 80 million square meters of mixed-use space. When everything is ready, it is planned to bare resemblance with Manhattan in New York, containing everything a community needs to be self-sufficient.

“A master development of this magnitude obviously takes time to reach its full developmental potential,” says a spokesperson of DPG. “But, the Executive Towers have already become a key residential area and the offices in Vision Towers are currently being delivered to DPG’s customers.”

It is not time that bothers residents the most, though. “What I really cannot bear is the view of this construction site every morning again,” says Sama Rad, 29, from Iran. “It is just not a nice thing to see.”

A Metro ride passing Business Bay may clarify what Sama is talking about. Besides large segments of the area consisting of sand, construction material is scattered all over the place.

“We follow strict rules from the Environment, Health and Safety Department when it comes to keeping the place clean, says an executive of Al-Shafar Group, one of the contractors responsible for 13 buildings in Business Bay. “I am sure the view of scattered construction material is not sustained by us.”

Fortune Group, another contractor in Business Bay responsible for the aluminium work of several projects also refuses to take blame, as it is not undertaking any actual construction.

With many contractors involved in many projects abandoned, it is, however, hard to say who is to blame for the appearance of the construction site and why.

"While the road network is still under construction, DPG is working with all the relevant authorities to ensure that everything will be completed up to the required standards,” says a spokesperson of DPG.

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