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These 2 items appeared in GN on the same day. A BBC correspondent says Dubai is now coming back stronger than before!! (I say not so fast lady, it may still be a bit premature to say that -– it will likely happen but might take a while!)

The other is about a South African property investor who wants her money back…,-- a story that doesn’t bode well for the picture painted in the first piece!!!

Dubai emerging leaner, stronger

By Carole Spiers, Special to Gulf News
Published: 00:00 October 26, 2009

Knowing the Dubai business world as I do — from major internationals to corner-shops, and from CEOs to taxi-drivers — I did not believe that these resilient people would lose heart to that kind of degree.
Five months is a long time to be away from my home in Dubai — my second home, that is — and as we touched down at Dubai International, courtesy of Emirates airlines, (probably the best airline anywhere), I wondered if things had really got as bad as the scare-stories would have us believe.

For the world's media have certainly seized upon Dubai as the fallen idol of the Middle East — once, they wrote, ‘the byword for 21st century, futuristic architecture and unrivalled prosperity, the epitome of luxury and excellence' — and now depicted as a ghost town of empty shops and restaurants, and huge deserted building-sites topped by motionless cranes, silent in the midday sun.

Knowing the Dubai business world as I do — from major internationals to corner-shops, and from CEOs to taxi-drivers — I did not believe that these resilient people would lose heart to that kind of degree.
Even the reported mass-flight of the expats sounded highly exaggerated. When our plane landed, I'd already made a note to look at the airport car-park. Was it really littered with abandoned Mercedes and Lamborghinis left over from the boom, as their owners fled home? Well, not that I could see!

Next stop was my usual check-in at the Royal Home Hotel Apartments in Bur Dubai. The view from my window showed the building site opposite, as unchanged, confirming the real-estate slump.
Then for lunch at Kamat Indian restaurant nearby where the manager said business was maybe down a little but was now steadily increasing again.

And then to work — my first assignment was a presentation to Dubai Internet City Toastmaster's Group. No sign of pessimism here, instead a group of local business people full of enthusiasm for the growth of the local economy. Next stop will be to present at the Women in Leadership Forum at the Atlantis ...

Travelling back to the hotel along the Shaikh Zayed Road (noting in passing that the superlative, new Metro does not yet seem to have had much effect on the traffic congestion), my vision is inevitably dominated by the awesome Burj Dubai, due for completion in December.
The Burj is a symbol of everything Dubai stands for, and it truly represents the hope of the future. When I consider the sheer extent of the teamwork and technical expertise that must have gone into this great engineering miracle, I am reassured that Dubai has what it takes to survive the recession and emerge triumphantly.

For it is not just Emiratis whose vision is dominated by the Burj, but the whole astonished world. Don't believe what you may read abroad about Dubai failing to cope with its first recession. Dubai is emerging leaner and stronger — a miracle of faith, planning and the genius of the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

- The writer is a BBC broadcaster and motivational speaker, with 20 years experience as CEO of Carole Spiers Group, an international stress consultancy based in London.

http://gulfnews.com/business/opinion/du ... r-1.519122
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Property investor wants her money back

Originally published in XPRESS on October 22, 2009

DUBAI : An investor has been left in the lurch after a property sales agency allegedly refused to answer her queries over a delayed project.
Joan A., 61, a pensioner from South Africa, said she paid a total of Dh95,840 to Avanti Holding between December 2007 and May 2008 for a unit at The Palisades, a Pearl Properties project in Dubai. Her payments represent 20 per cent of the unit price.

But for the last few weeks, the agents have ignored her phone calls and e-mail queries regarding the delay in construction.
"With the extent of the delay on the project [at least two years], investors should at least be offered their invested funds back," she said.

On May 13, 2009, Joan lodged a complaint with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera).

"I have received no indication of when construction will start. All calls to the Avanti offices, and e-mails to their staff, including their chairman, have gone unanswered," she said.

A Pearl Properties spokesperson told XPRESS that "procedural" snags have delayed construction. "The properties will be handed over within two to three years," the spokesperson said.

Maya Isaac, a Client Servicing Officer of Avanti, said: "Our company is assuring all the buyers who bought through us that their and our rights are protected by The Palisades' developer and the government's regulatory bodies. Many of the buyers in The Palisades have already chosen to upgrade to alternative projects which are developed by us."

Joan said: "The delay has caused some degree of discomfort due to my being a pensioner, I am not willing to move to other projects. I really would like my money back."

http://gulfnews.com/business/constructi ... k-1.517552

The writer is not a BBC broadcster, she never has been. She was invited onto various chat/news shows in the late 90's/early 2000. She is a "motivational speaker".

She is paid for her appearances, likewise she was paid to write this article, which says absolutely nothing at all.

Nice try GN

hahaha .... exposed

arniegang wrote:The writer is not a BBC broadcster, she never has been. She was invited onto various chat/news shows in the late 90's/early 2000. She is a "motivational speaker".

She is paid for her appearances, likewise she was paid to write this article, which says absolutely nothing at all.

Nice try GN

Thanks Arnie for the clarification!

The article was clearly too partial and unbalanced to have the BBC name associated with it!

I’m surprised that GN has not checked the credentials of this writer with the BBC first (before, inaccurately, publishing that the writer is a BBC broadcaster!)

It's not unusual .........

But then I thought you knew that

viking-warrior wrote:It's not unusual .........

But then I thought you knew that

Yes we all know that local papers print stories of this nature, but to allegedly claim the writer is a BBC broadcaster, when she is not (in order to give the story credibility), is not only unethical but also illegal.

Doing this is a big no no in the publishing world, which could get the offending publication, and/or the writer, in a heap of trouble -- legally and financially!

If true, I suspect GN will be hearing from the BBC!!!