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28 March 2024

A nostalgic trip down Ras Al Akhdar

A massive Malibu-style beach has just been constructed along the Western Corniche seaside road for families, but it is by no way a match for the Ladies Beach. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Nadim Kawach

Heading past the iconic Emirates Palace Hotel towards Ras Al Akhdar coastal strip had been a real joy as it had meant fresh air, calm and serenity away from the busy and noisy streets of the Capital. The trip is now a headache.

Massive bulldozers rumble most of the time, trucks keep moving in and out of the area and flying earth and sand at the construction site almost blind the view.

As the bulldozers continue their rumbling, Ras Alakhdar and its famous old Ladies Beach continue to gradually vanish and sink in the sea.

Sooner than later, the entire area will be shut to the public and the Ladies Beach that had kept the road to Ras Alakhdar busy will become a mere memory.

The Ladies Beach has been removed except for its tottering gate and high concrete wall that has stretched nearly one kilometre across the beach area to provide shelter for female swimmers cowering in that place for privacy.

Although a massive Malibu-style beach has just been constructed along the Western Corniche seaside road for families, it is by no way a match for the Ladies Beach in terms of privacy since the new one is a mixed-gender beach.

It is well protected by scores of security men deployed by the Abu Dhabi Municipality and hidden security cameras. But the fact is that many women favour privacy away from men’s eyes even if they feel safe.

“I know security is quite good at the new beach but there is no privacy because men are allowed in,” said Fatima Mansour, a Palestinian teacher.

“I used to go to the Ladies Beach, where I met many friends…there we had complete privacy and protection away from male predators…its gone now and I hope there will be another ladies beach in the city.”

Despite the gradual removal of the Ladies Beach and adjoining public beach strips, scores of cars are still seen shuttling daily towards that area apparently to enjoy a final ride and stir their memories before the zone is totally shut.

The motorists, some with their families, take a few moments to look sadly at the once bustling beach just before sunset and turn back towards the city, filled with memories of the place that had attracted swimmers for nearly half a century.

Ras Al Akhdar, an Arabic for “Green Head”, has just been shut and sealed off to give way for one of the largest government facilities in the UAE.

The facilities are located just opposite the Dh1.5-billion sprawling Emirates Palace.

It will be a massive complex that consists of a huge marble guest palace and other buildings spread over an area of more than one million square metres.

Work on the multi-billion dirham project involving a classical architectural art piece began last year and is expected to be completed within five years to replace the nearby presidential palace on the northwestern tip of the city.

“I come every week end here just to take a look at this place. I feel very sad because I have enjoyed this beach since I came to the UAE in early 1970s,” said Fouad Jishi, a 60-year-old Palestinian resident of Abu Dhabi.

Once like a beehive during the scorching summer days, Ras Al Akhdar now looks a gloomy and deserted area except for the sound of the waves hitting its sandy edge and felled palm trees and debris spawned by construction work.

The new facilities are being built just opposite the 500-metre beach strip and the area designated for it is so massive that Ras Al Akhdar and all adjoining beach facilities, including the Ladies Beach, have been cordoned off.

Dubbed the Malibu of Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Akhdar and the Ladies Beach had lured thousands of Abu Dhabi residents seeking free swimming and basking under the sizzling sun before the new massive beach was constructed on the Corniche.

Sandwiched between the azure Gulf water, the Emirates Palace and the luxurious Corniche on the western flank of the city, Ras Al Akhdar had been adorned by scores of palm trees which had provided swimmers with the only shelter against the scorching

sun. But the evergreen trees have been uprooted to give way for the construction of the white presidential palace, set to be staring closely at the Emirates Palace which has grabbed a big chunk of that area.

The new beach on the Corniche, completed nearly two years ago, was the latest in an ongoing massive development programme at Abu Dhabi’s western seaside area, where at least Dhtwo billion had been spent over the past eight years to develop and reshape the road and the entire area.

Abu Dhabi has been locked in a drive to expand its tourism sector as part of a long-term programme to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

Although it still constitutes a fraction of the gross domestic product and the national income, the tourism sector has recorded high growth rates over the past decade, averaging around 10 per cent annually.

The drive also includes construction of new hotels to accommodate a surge in visitors and there are plans to add nearly 17,000 hotel rooms to the existing 10,000 rooms.

Officials expect a t least three million visitors to come to Abu Dhabi in 2015 and five million in 2025.

Like Ras Al Akhdar, many other old monuments in the Capital had been a victim of the construction and modernisation drive. The Old Souk and the famous Clock Tower on the Corniche have sunken into oblivion.

“We do enjoy the new beach on the Corniche… But we will miss the Ladies Beach because it reminds me of my childhood,” said Nahed Shbayta, a 20-year-old Palestinian who came with her family to Abu Dhabi in early 1990s.