Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Conrad Egbert, Editor

Last week’s opening of the tower formerly known as the Burj Dubai was nothing short of a spectacular event.

All Dubai haters (and we know there are many) can lash out as much as they want, but going by the amount of people present on Monday night to witness the event, I’d say that bitter sect of the expatriate community is clearly the minority (and no! I wasn’t paid any extra to write this).

Even though Burj Dubai had a ring to it and renaming the tower Burj Khalifa conjured up mixed emotions in me, in retrospect it perhaps isn’t so surprising.

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With the UAE now moving towards a clearer federal model, this acknowledgement by Dubai’s ruler has cemented the emirates’ efforts to further strengthen the federation.

Of course, the announcement has seen many scrambling to make quick changes to incorporate the new brand.

These potentially include the entire Downtown Burj Dubai development, which has the Burj Dubai logo emblazoned on every sidewalk in Dubai, post cards and memorabilia, advertising and marketing material for Emaar, brochures, and the list goes on.

But then if one goes by the multi-billion dollar cost of the development or even the amount spent on the inauguration celebrations, which is anybody’s guess, changing the Burj Dubai logo to Burj Khalifa isn’t that daunting a task.

As the fireworks erupted up along the façade of the building on Monday night in the most awe-inspiring fashion with crowds cheering on, it wasn’t easy to accept that this small city, despite all the recent gloomy predictions, had delivered the tallest superstructure known to this world. It was a pretty humbling experience.

The year that has passed has been horrible for many of us in the construction industry and that’s a fact that can never be changed. It’s history, so let’s treat it the same.

The New Year offers the chance of a new beginning. It also offers the chance to have a new, more positive outlook on things to come. It may be hard at the beginning but let’s give this city a chance. Let’s give the industry a chance.

On behalf of the entire Construction Week team, I take this opportunity to wish you all the prosperity and success in this New Year.