Saadiyat Island

Early History

Saadiyat is an island located in the middle of the Khaleej water, approximately  one kilometer from Abu Dhabi with an area of 8kms. The original inhabitants had fishing as the back bone of their life and the way of survival before being transformed to one of the biggest farms that covers Abu Dhabi’s needs of fruit, vegetables and fish. 30 years ago, the island had an Arid Land Research Center which was chosen to supervised all of the agriculture projects and the University of Arizona US have made a complete project plan for the center to produce fruit and vegetables in air-conditioned greenhouses which are not affected by either the weather or the season.

Developments

Saadiyat now is one of the biggest development projects holding an estimated budget of Dhs 100bn, which will transform the island from old to more modern in 2006. The island development is handled by Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) which is bringing mixed commercial, residential and leisure to the heart of Saadiyat island which is expected to become Abu Dhabi’s Culture Center. The island will have seven districts which are Saadiyats Marina, Culture, Beach, Promenade, Lagoons, Retreat and Reserves District. The Marina District will cover an area of 3.7 Km2 which will berth over a 1,000 boats and has some residential projects such as hotels and luxury apartments. Culture Distict will hold some famous names like The Guggenheim and Louvre Museums as well as Performance Art Center. Promenade District is the residential project in Saadiyat Island which has a total Area of 931,000 m2 which will also include family resorts, leisure and entertainment as well as restaurants and cafes. Lagoon Districtwill cover an area of 3.5 km2 which will have a Tidal Lagoon System as well as low-rise water residence. Retreat District will cover an area of 750,000m2 of hotels and residents and the Reserves District will cover an area of 4.68 km2 of natural protection sanctuary where development will not affect the island’s natural plants such as mangrove; it will hold the first ever championship tidal golf course as well. 

Present development

There is some development in the island which is nothing compared with when the project will finish; some hotels  have finished and are operational such as Park Hyatt and St. Regis hotel. The Monte-Carlo Beach Club is operational which is at the moment in boost with business which covers relaxation, absolute tranquility, leisure for both kids and adults as well as holding some of the big events. The project itself is not completed yet a lot of locals and foreigners go there to have a blast, not forgetting the surrounding area such as Yas Island has an effect on people to go to Saaydiyat island. The project will have residences which will have 600,000 in population as well as malls and universities. New York University Abu Dhabi Camps is located on the island and it is being contracted. The island will have a lot of overseas visitors since the Louvre Museum will be on the island and the Louvre in France is famous for the  Mona Lisa  which in 2010 was insured for approximately of US $72M. The island will be fully operational in the year 2020 according to Abu Dhabi’s 2020 vision.

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Bibliography

·         " Saadiyat - Masterplan ." Saadiyat. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.saadiyat.ae/en/masterplan.html>.

·         "Saadiyat Island." Saadiyat Island. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadiyat_Island>.

·         "جريدة الاتحاد ." محمد بن زايد يعلـن تفاصيــل مشـروع تطوير جـزيـرة السـعديات. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.alittihad.ae/details.php?id=56705&y=2006>.

·         "شبكة ألم الإمارات." الموقع الجغرافي - جزر. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.alamuae.com/uae/showtopics-90.html>.

·         "Mona Lisa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa>.

My Reflection About English with Mr. Hedley Butterfield

When I came to the college I did the CEPA Exam for both Math and English but I didn’t have any academic studying in six years. I passed both of the subjects but the grades were above the exemption by a couple of grades. I was happy that I passed but very disappointed with myself  forthe grade because I thought I would get higher marks.

When I began studying with Mr. Hedley Butterfield, I was introduced by him to all of the students  and he was the best teacher anyone could ask for; my English began to get from good to better with him as he helps us in every step in every way, from grammar to punctuality and he is willing to help us even more.

 We have done till now three summarize which had subjects of the UAE from past, present and future. The first one was about the patrolling horsemen which was linked to the past; the second was about studying standards and literacy which referred to the future because studying  will continue as it is a never-ending process. Last but not least is the present which was about pearl diving which had history and a link to the present when they brought history to the tourism sector.

I love studying with Mr. Hedley and if I could choose which teacher that will teach us in the next semesters, it would be Mr. Hedley without any second thoughts.

A link to the past

In the 20^th century, the Arabian Gulf was one of the largest diving economies in the world where it had more than 1,000 pearling boats and employees majored in pearl diving reaching 20,000; in 1950 it nearly faded away when less expensive pearls became available to the public.

Gold stays gold as the old ones say; now two companies reconnect the past to the present by mixing them with tourism by forming Marine Environment Group (EMEG) by giving the people of the UAE and the tourist a taste of the past by diving to shallow ocean floors in search of their own pearls.

The creation of artificial pearls that was created in the Far East was a process that would finish overnight the local pearl industry; it became cheaper than the Arabian pearl which was elusive and very expensive once but now cheaper and that crashed the pearling economy in the Gulf Region.

Venturing for pearls can take up to a week in sea and the dhow held up to 300 divers; there are still pearls that are rare like the elusive pink pearl and the infamous black pearl.

 

 

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The change in literacy in the UAE

The UAE illiteracy rate when, the UAE first became a country was high, but nowadays it’s less than 10%. Research shows that students demand fewer reading classes. And now there are classes which are targeted for older people.

At the beginning the illiteracy rate of the UAE population was 75.1% but in 2010-2011 statistics from (SCAD) the Statistics Centre- Abu Dhabi showed that the rate had gone down to 6%.

In 1960-1961 there were no enrolled females in schools but nowadays, the number of males barely outweighs the number of females which is a huge difference from 50 years ago.

SCAD in their report, which included resident older than 10 years old, measured the literacy in English and Arabic but without noting the proficiency in both Arabic and English in schools. 2010-2011 reports mentioned the number of 306,497 pupils in 480 schools, of which 299 are government schools.  

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Peace Keepers in the Desert

When the sun sets, peace keepers of the desert start the duty, looking for any sign of trouble. Wearing clothes of the old, a kandura, beige riding trousers and  black boots.

Silence is their only weapon, armed with nothing but phones and walkie-talkies and never blending with the people they meet, going to locations that can't be reached by cars to prevent trouble from happening.

Doing their job sometimes bothers people and they try to scare them with noisy buggies or the sound of engines but the horses are more clever than that.

Emiratisation in that sector is rather difficult. They start their duty from 6 pm till midnight and they go in packs of 6 or 8 of four hour shifts so as not to tire the horses. They work less during the hotter period months and in the winter comes the high season of work. They go in
various places covering at least six kms.

This patrolling system is now in all of the seven emirates just keeping peace in this country.

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