15 November 2005

DUBAI -- Real estate developer Nakheel and Van Oord, a Dutch dredging and marine contractor, yesterday signed a contract for the development of Deira beach, a project involving an investment of a Dh16 billion.

The beach development will be part of the mega project The Palm, Deira -- the third man-made island off Dubai coast.

General Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and the UAE Defence Minister, and Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, attended the signing ceremony.

The contract with the Dutch company involves the execution of 16 digging and filling operations for the project to develop 17km of beach. The first phase of the project's infrastructure development is to begin by the end of 2006, according to Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, executive chairman of Nakheel.

Gen. Shaikh Mohammed and Balkenende discussed measures to further boost cooperation between the UAE and the Netherlands. The meeting was attended by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation and chairman of Emirates airline, Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties, and Mohammed Al Gergawi, Chairman of Dubai Holding Company.

The new Palm, Deira, is to be 18km long, 9km wide and its surface will measure 4,000 hectares. Development of the beach project will involve shifting more than one billion cubic metres of sand and 70 million tonnes of rock.

Van Oord has been operating in Dubai since 2001 and helped build Palm Jumeirah, south of Dubai, a Palm shaped island that was the first of the ambitious coastal projects.

About 50 million cubic metres of sand has been used to reclaim land for The Palm, Deira.

BY ISAAC JOHN

© Khaleej Times 2005