Lots in construction - and I don't mean parking lots

Conrad Egbert, editor

A lot happened in the world of construction last week, and most of it, in Bahrain.

No doubt as you flick through the magazine you may wonder how our Bahrain editor Benjamin Millington kept up with all the action.

He even lived up to his promise of reporting from the scene of Bahrain’s demonstration last week, pictures of which I’m sure you would have seen by now on our website www.ConstructionWeekOnline.com.

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Along with all of that, Millington even managed to squeeze in a special investigation into the living conditions of labourers in the kingdom.

Despite Bahrain’s forward outlook and advanced policies, it surprises me how something as basic as workers’ rights and healthy living conditions are being violated.

However, on the Dubai front, Damac Properties’ investors have voiced many of their concerns (some of them quite pointed) over the developer’s intentions. Even property watchdog Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera) has been dragged into the picture by the developer, claiming the new parking-sale rule is the brain-child of the agency.

We hope to get to the bottom of this once Rera decides to answer our calls.

And as if making waves locally wasn’t enough, Dubai World subsidiary Infinity World announced that it has sued MGM Mirage, its partner in the Las Vegas CityCenter development, over the latter’s failure to provide assurance that it will be able to meet its future payment obligations.

Infinity World has said it filed the lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court to “protect its rights and the best interests of the CityCenter project.”

That’s interesting as only this week a judge from the DIFC Courts, told me that these times are seeing an overload of companies entering into arbitration.

Its interesting times and sometimes you wonder, “what slowdown”?

We work really hard to bring you the latest news in the market in order to help you stay informed about all the goings on within the industry.

And along with this week’s issue is a cracking supplement to Construction Week on Building Materials, including a forecast on various materials prices for the next few months.

Hope you like it. It’s unputdownable, I think.