Notices from Palm District Cooling were put up in the Shoreline Apartments of the Palm Jumeirah and Discovery Gardens over the weekend.
Notices from Palm District Cooling were put up in the Shoreline Apartments of the Palm Jumeirah and Discovery Gardens over the weekend.

Contract row could leave homeowners fuming



A payment row between Nakheel and Palm District Cooling has left thousands of homeowners in Dubai fuming. Notices from Palm District Cooling were put up in the Shoreline Apartments of the Palm Jumeirah and Discovery Gardens over the weekend telling residents their air conditioning would be cut off tomorrow "due to the building owner's continuing failure to enter into a legally binding contract with us".

Residents should contact Nakheel with inquiries, the notices said. Nakheel said in a statement yesterday: "An error has been rectified. No utilities will be cut off." Palm District Cooling is part of Palm Utilities, which is owned by Dubai World's investment company, Istithmar World Capital. Nakheel is also owned by Dubai World, which is nearing a final agreement on a US$23.5 billion (Dh86.31bn) debt restructuring.

Rupa Anwar, a representative for the owners' association of Al Dabas building in the Shoreline Apartments, said she had calls throughout the weekend from residents. "My weekend was disastrous," Ms Anwar said. "People were absolutely distraught. We can't live without air conditioning in this climate." She said a Nakheel representative told her yesterday residents could do nothing about the issue because it was a dispute between Nakheel and Palm District Cooling.

"Being residents of the Palm Jumeirah, which is an elite class of living in Dubai, we feel that they shouldn't be sending out notices without warning that they are going to cut off the air conditioning," she said. "We're very upset." Ms Anwar said regulations on how commonly owned spaces in buildings were maintained by multiple owners could clarify the maintenance of buildings by giving their owners control over the hiring of property management companies. She said she was paying a maintenance fee of Dh24 per square foot for her three-bedroom apartment - a total of Dh42,000 a year.

Dania Mchourab, the owner of a small flat in Discovery Gardens, said she told her tenant he could live in her family's villa if the air conditioning was turned off. "It's shameful," Ms Mchourab said. "They belong to the same company and they are putting us, poor souls, in the middle. What can we do? Go to the courts and file a lawsuit? There is no one to appeal to." Palm District Cooling supplies chilled water to projects around Dubai but mainly to Nakheel's including Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Village, Discovery Gardens, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre, and Ibn Battuta Mall.

Palm District Cooling says it has also been "selected to service all of Nakheel's current and future projects", including Dubai Waterfront and Palm Jebel Ali. Palm District Cooling declined to comment. District cooling is a more efficient system of air conditioning that works by pumping chilled water from a central station to a network of buildings, each of which uses the water to cool flats and offices.

Kausar Khan, the owner of the Queens Beauty Lounge in the Dubai Marina, said the notice posted on her building in Discovery Gardens was the latest in a series of challenges with her new flats. "I have already had to pay extra money to fix problems in my supposedly brand new apartment," she said. "Now this? I already paid the chiller costs in full. Why are we being punished?" bhope@thenational.ae

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Dubai Rugby Sevens

November 30, December 1-2
International Vets
Christina Noble Children’s Foundation fixtures

Thursday, November 30:

10.20am, Pitch 3, v 100 World Legends Project
1.20pm, Pitch 4, v Malta Marauders

Friday, December 1:

9am, Pitch 4, v SBA Pirates

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

How to help

Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:

2289 - Dh10

2252 - Dh50

6025 - Dh20

6027 - Dh100

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Key products and UAE prices

iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229

iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649

iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179

Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Scoreline

Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (53')

Atletico Madrid 1
Griezmann (57')

The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh1,470,000 (est)
Engine 6.9-litre twin-turbo W12
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 626bhp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,350rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.0L / 100km