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The Collab
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(address is not clickable)10/11/5
Dubai: Madness in the Desert
Skyscrapers are everywhere in Dubai. Starting from the landmark buildings downtown, miles of multistory office buildings line both sides of the main thoroughfare.
Several miles down the road, the famous Burj al-Arab hotel appears suddenly like the sail of a tremendous ship. Next to the Burj is a water amusement park and a giant hotel/condominium complex with Venetian-style canals and bridges.
A souk sells precious perfumes and Persian silk carpets.
The Emirates Arabs make every effort to assure that tourists are treated with the utmost politeness and hospitality.
A traveler, prevented by the summer haze from seeing very far down the coastline, might think that the city ends with the expanse of oceanfront hotels, but this is a mistake. Drive a few miles further, and there, out in the water, is the unfinished Palm development with its multimillion-dollar manmade private islands forming the shape of a palm tree.
A few miles more, and a stretch of three dozen skyscrapers in various stages of construction, each with a crane perched on top, become visible along the highway.
Finally, there is the mall -- one of five in Dubai -- where it's possible to sip a latte at the Starbucks in company with the Emirates men in their red-and-white headdresses and white robes, and purchase the latest model ultraslim digital camera to record bits and snatches of the grandiose city rising from the desert.
The inspirational story behind Dubai is told everywhere, in the handouts of Emirates Airlines to the Burj Al Arab's hotel guide. The visitor is told how the discovery of oil transformed the inhabitants from Third World pearl fishermen to wealth beyond dreams. Rather than squander the new riches, the story goes, a wise ruler embarked upon a massive development program to transform Dubai into the hub of trading and commerce for all of Africa and the Middle East. (A similar story is told in Bahrain.)
What has been done in Dubai has been done very, very well. The place gives off the solidity of a Rolls-Royce or an Upper East Side townhouse; there is a confident sense that here is to be found the best money can buy. From the vantage of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the luxurious suites of the Burj Al-Arab, looking forward to a dinner of local fish while your personal butler attends to your wardrobe, Dubai seems a palace created by a genie in a barrel of oil with the sudden magic of a tale from the Arabian Nights.
But the desert wind is starting to blow.
- Among the letters to the editor in the local paper are complaints from expats who say their management company ignored calls to fix a broken air-conditioner in the heat of summer. (Summer in Dubai brings temperatures of 50 degrees CENTIGRADE.)
- The other day, several hundred construction workers marched down the main street in a protest against their employer. They claimed not to have been paid in six months. The government responded immediately. It fined the employer, ordered payment of the back wages in full, and called a six-month halt to the hiring of foreign construction workers.
- An interview in a paid advertising supplement featuring one of the big government men spearheading the development contained the disarmingly candid statement that Dubai is running out of money -- out of money! with all that oil and at such a price, something difficult to accomplish! -- and must now attract foreign investors to finish its developments.
- One old oil hand predicts that in 30 years, the place will have been reclaimed by the water and sand.
Perhaps everything will be just as the promotional brochures say it will. Attracted by 5% tax rates, people will flock to this new Cairo on the Gulf.
Maybe it's half true. More likely, though, things are out of control in Dubai, and have been for some time, and some people near the top know it very well.
