11.03 PM Thursday, 28 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:57 06:11 12:27 15:53 18:37 19:51
28 March 2024

Blame game drowns the hope of lakes for JLT

One of the unfinished lakes in JLT - far from the promised landscaped water body. (Pic: Majorie van Leijen)

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

Jumeirah Lakes Towers refers to four man-made lakes opposite Dubai Marina, and the clusters of towers built around this lake. At least, that is the idea.

The question that greets residents of the area every morning as they open their curtains to look for a promised (and paid for) view is: where are the lakes?

Instead, the area looks like a construction site, and most noticeable are the unfinished lakes - huge craters with a smattering of stagnant, sometimes putrid water.

The project originally started ten years ago, with one man-made lake and under the supervision of Al Nakheel Properties.

Eventually, Jumeirah Lakes Towers project became the child of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCCA) and extended to the ‘dynamic waterfront master development’, as DMCCA labeled it. 

A senior person involved with the project said, “We are responsible for the landscaping element, but at the same time a successful project needs good cooperation and coordination with sub-developers ".

According to the person, the problem lies with the delay in the work of construction.

“As long as a cluster of buildings has not been finished, we cannot realise the landscaping around it,” she says. “Landscaping tends to take place as soon as three towers per cluster are complete.”

A partly residential, partly commercial area of 200 hectares alongside a beautifully landscaped promenade was to come into being, by the end of 2009.

Although 60 towers have been completed so far, many sub-developers have had delays in their projects, and some of them have even issued a complete construction stop in the past years.

“For three years the project was not being executed at all, we only started our work again last year,” says Ali Akbar, who works as a facility manager for Honeywell, one of the involved construction developers. “The company blamed the recession for this,” he added.

Whoever is to blame, the area is far from what it is supposed to be. And this has caused rent prices to be relatively low.

Low rents, costly groceries

Although the area was planned to be an up-market area, boasting Marina-like features, the rents remain surprisingly low. Rent for a two-bedroom is presently approximately Dh75,000 for a year.

This mix brings along a lopsided situation. Shopkeepers tend to target the high-class customer, which leaves part of the residents’ needs unanswered. “I go shopping in JBR, where things are cheaper,” says Lijie J from China. “But I prefer to live in JLT, where the rent is lower.”

Sources at DMCCA are confident that this year will bring new results. “Three buildings are expected to be delivered by the end of this year, and DMCCA is still investing in the communal landscaping,” one person said. “The beautification process is expected to be completed by the end of this year.”