$163m worth of Dubai projects to launch shortly
Work on new zoo expected to begin within eight weeks as the project looks to be completed by 2014
Three Dubai projects worth more than $163m have been approved by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, it was announced on Sunday.
One such project is the long delayed replacement to the existing Dubai Zoo in Jumeirah, which has been struggling with a lack of infrastructure and cramped quarters for hundreds of animals.
Speaking at a press conference, Hussain Nasser Lootah, director general of Dubai Municipality, said that work had already started on developing ‘Dubai Safari’.
“If it is not the best park in the world, it will be one of the best in the world,” said Lootah. “It will give residents and visitors a whole new experience. We have had the plan for so many years, but failed to find an ideal location for the project,” he explained.
Located in a new 160hectare park in Al Warqa 5, just off Al Awir Road, the new park will be designed according to African, Asian and Arabic themes. It will allow visitors to have different safari experiences, including surroundings such as waterfalls, water channels, natural paths and various jungle games relevant to those regions.
Furthermore, the park plans to build a monorail and waterways to help move visitors around the park, Lootah said. The high-end leisure facility will also feature a golf course, a report in Dubai based newspaper, 7 Days, claimed.
Work on the park is scheduled to start in about eight weeks, with completion scheduled for within two years.
In addition to the park, Lootah said that a new dhow wharfage had also received approval from Sheikh Mohammed. Estimated to cost around $54.45m, the new wharf will help reduce congestion along Dubai Creek and boost the import and export trade in the emirate.
It will stretch three kilometres between Deira Corniche and Palm Deira, the director general said, and will have the capacity to berth up to 400 dhows, doubling the size of existing facilities at Dubai Creek. There will be 30 loading and offloading areas, which will allow for the annual movement of more than 1.7m tonnes of cargo.
Construction is expected to start in June and is predicted to be complete by the end of next year.
The third project is the Business Bay canal, which will be completed in two years and will connect with the sea via a pipeline. The second phase of the project will see it connect to the existing lagoons in the development.
