Sharjah and the Northern Emirates - comprising Fujairah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain - are witnessing an upsurge in construction activity.
Their industries are reaping the benefits of the rapid pace of development within their richer neighbours, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, while they try to boost their infrastructure in an effort to stay in step.
Residential construction is one major area of growth with Sharjah alone currently having 40 high-rise buildings under construction in different residential areas.
Fujairah also has witnessed an increase in demand for apartments during the past few months. The boom has been caused by burgeoning business opportunities and the accompanying influx of workers looking for accommodation.
The construction of the huge Fujairah water desalination and power plant, as well as the Fujairah Campus of Ajman University of Science and Technology and other new schools and educational institutes which have set up branches in Fujairah, have prompted builders to provide hghi-rise apartments to meet the demand for accommodation.
Another major project in the Northern Emirates is the development of a new sewerage system in Ajman which is also expected to bring significant economic benefits to the emirate.
Sharjah and Fujairah are pushing ahead with a number of tourism-related projects aimed at complementing ambitious initiatives being undertaken by Dubai. According to Fujairah Tourism Bureau, an independent government body monitoring these projects, Fujairah is stressing on watersports, particularly scuba-diving in the coral reefs off its coast. Other plans in the pipeline include marinas and mini-golf links.
Tourism coupled with a rising population is already energising the retail sector and a number of shopping malls and commercial centres are under construction, particularly in Sharjah and Fujairah. Regional chains that have set themselves up here in recent times are said to be faring well.
Power, water & sewerage
Nine firms have prequalified for an operation and maintenance contract at Fujairah power and desalination project. Union Water and Electricity Company (UWEC), which is developing the project, is expected to select an operator shortly.
Located in Qidfa, the Dh4.6 billion ($1.25 billion) project will be the UAE's biggest desalination plant and will produce 100 million gallons of water per day. Construction of the project started some two months ago, and as many as 1,500 workers and 50 engineers are currently working on the 175,000 sq m site. The project is expected to be completed by mid-2003, and will serve the Northern Emirates, Al Ain and Dhaid City.
A 400-m-long pipeline will feed seawater to the plant. A 182-km-long water pipeline to serve Al Ain and another 19-km long pipeline to supply Dhaid city are also to be built.
A power station is being built next to it over an area of 125,000 sq m. The plant will have a capacity to produce 656 MW of which 120 MW will be consumed by the desalination station, 16 MW for water pumping, and the remaining 500 MW will go to the Northern Emirates via a proposed national power grid.
The Abu Dhabi government will finance the first phase of the project. A foreign partner will be invited to contribute 49 per cent of the total cost of the project for the other phases.
A concession company has been set up to overhaul Ajman's sewerage system. Ajman Sewerage (Private) Company Limited says the new $140-million system will deliver treated water from the plant to the government of Ajman. This will be used for irrigation and landscape projects.
The scope of the work involves the building of a hightech sewerage treatment plant, more than 15 individual pumping stations and laying over 200 km of pipelines to connect the properties to the system. It will take about four years to complete the project with the main treatment plant expected to open in 2005.
The company is a joint concession comprising the government of Ajman and two firms Thames Water and Black & Veatch. The concession company will build, operate and manage the project for 25 years.
Airports, ports & free zone
A multi-million-dollar project involving the construction of a new terminal building is under way at the Sharjah International Airport. The project is expected to be completed next year.
It envisages the construction of a new facility for arrivals alongside the existing arrivals hall, connected to the complex by a bridge. It will also have three separate conveyors for luggage-handling, apart from moving walkways and allied facilities. The new terminal is expected to double the airport's existing capacity, offering more spacious premises for duty free, immigration and security.
The project forms the first phase of expansion and had been designed to cope with the anticipated rise in passenger volumes for the next 10 years, but the authorities would concurrently commence work on the second phase of expansion, subject to demand inducements.
The airport has been steadily expanding and upgrading for some time now, with significant investments having been made in the cargo and transit passenger areas.
Meanwhile, Sharjah has launched the ambitious inner harbour project at Hamriyah Port adjoining Hamriyah Free Zone. The project, spread across three phases, entails a Dh75 million investment in the first phase, which will see the construction of 3.1 km of wharfage across 350 m, with a draft depth of 7 m. The complex will also include a dry-docking facility capable of servicing small- and medium-sized vessels.
The first phase is due for completion by April 2003. Halcrow is project consultant, with Dutco Balfour Beatty having been awarded the construction contract. On completion, the inner harbour will have a total wharfage length of 5.5 km.
Ajman is setting up an international airport at the Al Helou site near the Ajman Cement plant. UK's Wiggins Group is undertaking the Dh367 million ($100 million) build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract to construct the terminal and allied infrastructure. This will be the seventh commercial international airport in the UAE. The facility will cater to both international passengers, airfreight and business jets market. The complex will include a private jet terminal with maintenance facilities and will serve as a complete air service station.
Ajman Free Zone, meanwhile, recently announced plans to set up a Dh50 million offices complex to house new corporate tenants. The designs have already been approved and the free zone hopes to have 1,500 companies operating out of the zone by end-2004, from 700 as at end-June this year.
The project will be undertaken in two phases, with the first to consist of two office buildings and due for completion by June 2003, and the second set for completion by end-2004. The entire complex will be spread across 11,000 sq m, with the built-up area to take up 4,000 sq m, and the rest given over to green, landscaped areas, a fountain, shaded seating, and parking and allied facilities.
Ajman port is also in for an expansion following the award of a 10-year contract to Emirates Port Services (EPS) - a joint venture between Emirates Trading Agency (ETA) and Ras Al Khaimah-based Union Group - to manage the port. It plans to increase the number of berths from 14 to 16, warehouse and building construction in the port premises.
The port, which had a depth of 5 m when it was first built, has been developed into an 8-m-deep port. It now expects to convert into a 10.5 m-deep port, enabling visits by 40,000-50,000 DWT ships of length up to 175 m.
Residential & commercial projects
Three hotel properties worth around Dh400 million are in various stages of planning or implementation in Fujairah, as part of the emirate's tourism drive.
The first, Emirates Hotel, a 280-room property entailing an investment of over Dh100 million, is expected to open soon. Work on the other two properties together worth around Dh300 million and comprising chalets, bungalows and beachfront units for 400 beds, should start soon for completion over the next two years.
Besides, a number of shopping malls and commercial complexes are currently under way in the Northern Emirates. These include Safeer Group's two malls - the Safeer Market and Century Mall - being built in Sharjah at a total cost of Dh300 million.
Safeer Market, located on Dubai-Sharjah highway, will have a built-up area of one million sq ft. It will have six levels including two basement floors for parking to accommodate 800 vehicles, four floors for shopping outlets and the top floor for a food court. An amusement centre will occupy one floor and a home furnishing store will occupy the other. Work on the project began in July and will be completed in second half of next year.
Century Mall is located in Mamzar area facing the Al Shabab Club and will cost Dh100 million. It will have two levels. Work on the 300,000 sq ft project started in July and is expected to be completed next month. A 20,000 sq ft Kids Zone and the ground and mezzanine floors will be connected by two sets of travelators. The mall will have a parking lot for 600 cars. Safeer is also building a hypermarket offering 50,000 sq ft of retail space in Dhaid, Sharjah.
Work is nearing completion on the Buhaira Insurance building in Sharjah which is a 35 storey commercial building with a ground floor plus two basement levels. The project is scheduled for completed next month (December).
Construction work is also in progress on the Crystal Plaza. The 17-storey residential and commercial building includes a basement level, ground and mezzine. It is expected to be completed in April next year.
Sharjah is witnessing a construction boom in new residential areas. The emirate will be developing a new suburban township for UAE nationals. Named Sharjah Tai suburbs, the township will offer 6,000 plots on a barren site 15 km from Sharjah City. It will have hospitals, shopping malls, mosques, community and social clubs and parks.
Bukhatir Investments Limited (BIL) and Gibca Group of Companies have launched the Al-Barashi Land Development Project, a new residential area in the emirate. Phase One of the project, involving the first 300 land deeds to be offered, is aimed at middle and high-income UAE and GCC nationals. The 20 million sq ft total land development comprises a total of 1,200 plots.
Al-Barashi is located adjacent to both the Sharjah-Dhaid road and to the new Emirates outer ring road, linking Sharjah and the Northern Emirates to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Roads
The Ministry of Public Works and Housing has plans for a new Dh300 million highway connecting Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. The new road will be parallel to the old one, and is aimed at reducing the congestion on the old one.
The project will be completed in two phases, the first of which will cover 27 km, the stretch from the industrial area in Sharjah to Ajman to the north east. It will connect Sharjah-Ras Al Khaimah Road, 10 km from the Umm Al Quwain interchange. Five interchanges will be built on this highway.
The existing road in Sharjah, which stretches to Al Shouhada (Martyr's) roundabout in Ras Al Khaimah, will be upgraded by revamping the interchanges and building concrete barriers.
The road will stretch to the Ring Road, which will be connected to Ras Al Khaimah in future. The second phase of the project will comprise a 90 km road, which will stretch from Al Sajhah-Al Khawaneej interchange in Dubai to Al Dhaid in Sharjah and Al Rams in Ras Al Khaimah.
Meanwhile, Fujairah Municipality recently began naming and numbering main roads and residential and commercial districts. Municipal workers are installing signboards on roads, roundabouts and in residential areas in the city centre, the western and northern entrances of Fujairah city and at major trading centres and malls.
Medical facilities
Health facilities in the Northern Emirates are receiving a considerable boost. A 160-bed private hospital, to cost around Dh110 million, is under construction near Sharjah International Airport. The Shifa hospital, being built by Shaikh Faisal bin Khalid Mohammed Al Qasimi, former minister of youth and sports, is said to the largest of its kind in the country and is scheduled for completion early next year. The hospital will have 12 private wards, 12 beds in the gynaecology section, 12 for intensive care and the rest of the wards in different sections of the hospital. The facility will also include a 24-hour emergency centre, a dental centre, a covered 80-ft long swimming pool and a modern laboratory. There will also be 25 clinics, six of which will be for VIPs.
Meanwhile the new Kalba Hospital in Sharjah, which is expected to cost more than Dh 69 million, is expected to be operational in August, 2003. A Dh300 million maternity hospital is also planned for Sharjah.
Fujairah Medical District has plans for the new Dh150 million ($40.84 million) Fujairah Obstetric and Gynaecology Hospital project which will have more than 150 beds. The new hospital will be built close to the Fujairah Hospital, where a new paediatric ward and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit was recently opened. The hospital has also constructed Dh10 million dentistry centre. The paediatric ward was constructed at a cost of around Dh15 to 20 million while the MRI unit cost around Dh9 million.
There are other new medical facilities which are expected to open soon in Fujairah, including the new Fujairah Preventive Medicine Department, being built at a cost of Dh12 million, the new Al Siji Health Centre (Dh4 million), and Dh 5 million Al Tawiyeen Health Centre.
Other projects