Absolutely Appalling Article On Dubai - Slavery, Stupidity & All The Shit That Coats The Beaches

[hatrack]

EDIT

I wanted to understand how the government of Dubai will react, so I decided to look at how it has dealt with an environmental problem that already exists – the pollution of its beaches. One woman – an American, working at one of the big hotels – had written in a lot of online forums arguing that it was bad and getting worse, so I called her to arrange a meeting. "I can't talk to you," she said sternly. Not even if it's off the record? "I can't talk to you." But I don't have to disclose your name... "You're not listening. This phone is bugged. I can't talk to you," she snapped, and hung up. The next day I turned up at her office. "If you reveal my identity, I'll be sent on the first plane out of this city," she said, before beginning to nervously pace the shore with me. "It started like this. We began to get complaints from people using the beach. The water looked and smelled odd, and they were starting to get sick after going into it. So I wrote to the ministers of health and tourism and expected to hear back immediately – but there was nothing. Silence. I hand-delivered the letters. Still nothing."

The water quality got worse and worse. The guests started to spot raw sewage, condoms, and used sanitary towels floating in the sea. So the hotel ordered its own water analyses from a professional company. "They told us it was full of fecal matter and bacteria 'too numerous to count'. I had to start telling guests not to go in the water, and since they'd come on a beach holiday, as you can imagine, they were pretty pissed off." She began to make angry posts on the expat discussion forums – and people began to figure out what was happening. Dubai had expanded so fast its sewage treatment facilities couldn't keep up. The sewage disposal trucks had to queue for three or four days at the treatment plants – so instead, they were simply drilling open the manholes and dumping the untreated sewage down them, so it flowed straight to the sea. Suddenly, it was an open secret – and the municipal authorities finally acknowledged the problem. They said they would fine the truckers. But the water quality didn't improve: it became black and stank. "It's got chemicals in it. I don't know what they are. But this stuff is toxic."

She continued to complain – and started to receive anonymous phone calls. "Stop embarassing Dubai, or your visa will be cancelled and you're out," they said. She says: "The expats are terrified to talk about anything. One critical comment in the newspapers and they deport you. So what am I supposed to do? Now the water is worse than ever. People are getting really sick. Eye infections, ear infections, stomach infections, rashes. Look at it!" There is faeces floating on the beach, in the shadow of one of Dubai's most famous hotels.

"What I learnt about Dubai is that the authorities don't give a toss about the environment," she says, standing in the stench. "They're pumping toxins into the sea, their main tourist attraction, for God's sake. If there are environmental problems in the future, I can tell you now how they will deal with them – deny it's happening, cover it up, and carry on until it's a total disaster." As she speaks, a dust-storm blows around us, as the desert tries, slowly, insistently, to take back its land.

EDIT

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html

[jwirr]

1. A fitting hide out/get away for the corporatist.

[redqueen]

2. Ecocide - perfect word for it.

I like this:

"This is a city built from nothing in just a few wild decades on credit and ecocide, suppression and slavery. Dubai is a living metal metaphor for the neo-liberal globalised world that may be crashing – at last – into history."

If only.

[phantom power]

3. "beneath the surface it's a medieval dictatorship."

[thereismore]

4. Slavery. Medieval social order. Perfect for a republican. nt

[HowHasItComeToThis]

6. FROM THE ARTICLE

Saw it for myself

Tuesday, 7 April 2009 at 04:55 pm (UTC)
I went there as side trip last Nov to celebrate Eid al Adha with some friends who are living in Sharjah (a close municipality to Dubai) and I have to say, as an American, I was not impressed. The exploitation of South Asians there is incredible...and the countless stories of the local populace and their abuse of servants is horrible. Although, not everyone there is is like that......eventually, like all great things, it must come to an end....and without any fiscal responsibility and innovation, a society will fail. With all that money, I wouldve thought the best way to invest it would be to research innovative ways to create new sources of energy for mankind....instead, they have opted to build the tallest toothpick, and collect accolades on that. What a waste of resources.

[depakid]

5. One place I lament too much about when it collapses

It'll be interesting to see what it looks like 20 years down the line....

[XemaSab]

7. You don't need clean water at the beach!

For the low, low price of 53 American dollars per day, you can go to the Wild Wadi Waterpark!

http://www.jumeirah.com/en/Hotels-and-Resorts/Wild-Wadi1/

Thursday nights are ladies' nights!

:eyes:

[bananas]

8. "cheese blaring out" - what is cheese?

Is that a British musical genre?