Developer Nakheel said yesterday it was taking every step possible to minimise the environmental impact of its vast offshore projects in Dubai.
The company behind the three Palms and The World has said there will be shortterm damage to the seabed. This will affect areas around the developments and where sand is being dredged.
Environmental campaigners are constantly questioning the impact on the coral reefs along Dubai's shoreline and ecosystems on the seabed.
Chris O'Donnell, Nakheel's chief executive officer, said this was a huge issue for the property company and development processes were carefully thought out in advance to reduce the environmental impact.
"In any construction process there is short-term environmental impact and what we try to do is bide by our commitments. With the land reclamation, we must ensure water does not silt up and affect seagrass areas and other natural habitats.
"At the Waterfront site at Jebel Ali there is an area of coral we are protecting. What we will not do is speed up the process to meet deadlines. Nakheel will deliver when it is ready." Nakheel has had problems on the Jumeirah island project with homes that were not up to standard being handed over to buyers.
"We did not walk away but rectified issues and are still working on those issues," O'Donnell said.
"This happened because we delivered too soon. And we have told customers on The Palm Jumeirah that we will be late with the delivery but will ensure quality - and this goes for environmental issues.
"We apply best world practices and have recently announced an independent sustainability analysis where international experts will tell us where we are going right and wrong." O'Donnell said Nakheel was not running out of sand for its offshore projects but was using new methods to obtain it.
"To date we have been utilising large pits in the ocean where sand had deposited in underwater canyons.
"What we are getting ready to do at this point is introduce another, more expensive, method using cutter dredgers that suck the sand up. Another way is to scrape the sand and then suck it up." O'Donnell said work will start within the next six months on Waterfront City and the Trump Tower on The Palm Jumeirah and a sales centre will be built on The Palm Deira.
By Adrian Murphy
© Emirates Today 2007
