Palm Jumeirah - Controversy

Controversy

The complexities of the construction have been blamed, in part, for the extended delays to the completion of the project, the date of which has been pushed back multiple times and is now nearly two years late. Further controversy was engendered when it was revealed that after launching the project, Nakheel increased the number of residential units on the island (with a concomitant reduction in the amount of physical space between individual properties) from the originally announced 4500 (comprising 2000 vil chased early in the expectation of greater separation between properties. This increase was attributed to Nakheel miscalculating the actual cost of construction and requiring the raising of additional capital, although Nakheel has never commented publicly on the matter.

The outer break water has been designed as a continuous barrier, but it was realized that by preventing natural tidal movement, the seawater within the Palm was becoming stagnant. The problem was corrected by adding an additional gap in the barrier. As explained in the National Geographic Channel's documentary Impossible Islands, part of its MegaStructures series, the breakwater was subsequently modified to create gaps on either side, allowing tidal movement to oxygenate the water within and prevent it stagnating, albeit less efficiently than would be the case if the breakwater did not exist. This same episode addressed the issue of marine life as well, but stated that the breakwater has actually encouraged marine life and that new marine species are moving into the area.

In a 2009 article describing the collapsing Dubai economy, The New York Times reported that the Palm was sinking and this has been confirmed now by geological surveys, at the moment it is 5 millimetres (0.20 in) per year but this could increase rapidly. Furthermore there are many reported cases where people had bought houses before they were built and are furious about the space available now and the way they seem to be living on top of each other. Nakheel refuted the claims by the New York Times who had quoted one small ground survey firm that the island was sinking. They defended the single claim by saying that there had been no reports of any structural problems on any of the buildings on the island which would be expected if there were any subsidence. Nakheel also outlined that claims suggesting Palm Jumeirah has sunk by 5mm, as detected by remote sensing (satellite) techniques, are not possible given that NASA’s laser altimeter satellites have an accuracy of only + or – 50 millimetres (2.0 in).