Palm islands: Palm Jebel Ali, Deira Island, and Palm Jumeirah

The Palm Islands

The palm islands are located off the coast of Dubai. Palm Jebel Ali, Deira Island, and Palm Jumeirah are among these islands. The construction of these islands began in 2001. The Palm Jumeirah is shaped like a palm tree, hence the name Palm Island. The islands are predicted to have a huge population and, more crucially, to attract more beachgoers due to their 520-kilometer length. This endeavor has both benefits and drawbacks. This study focuses on issues that arise as a result of project management. Who are the stakeholders of this project?

Stakeholders of the Project

The project idea of coming up with project Islands has some individuals who can be named as the interested parties in this project. The idea of coming up with the plan was proposed by the prince of Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum was popularly known as Fazza. He came up with the design of how the project would resemble. The primary purpose of this project was to increase tourism so that the revenue would go higher. This was due to faster depletion of oil reserves. Nakheel property was then given a period of four years to complete the project. Nakheel property is a real estate developing corporation that is owned by the government. Nakheel property now went on to hire different personnel to facilitate the project. Robert Berger turned into the venture supervisor. Mounir Haidar turned into the head of the planning team. Scott Hutchinson was delegated as the Apartment Construction Engineer. Hill International became the main global advisor since he was knowledgeable about mega ventures.

Risk Management Activity in the Project

Give an example of risk management activity in the project.

Risk management is the process that involves the identification, analysis, and response to risk factors during project time to ensure that the objectives are achieved. The Main purpose of risk management is to make sure that all the possible events are controlled. This project is prone to various hazards. Therefore, risk management activities have been put in place. These activities include hiring investment advisers to face the foreign investment problems. During the construction period, wave blockers were fixed all around the island. These wave blockers, which are about three meters high, were put in place to reduce the risk of mild waves interfering with the construction. These waves can even cause the death of workers. Monitoring program around the Jumeirah coastline was preferred to ensure that a detailed survey of baseline topography was done. Another risk management activity that was put in place is taking a loan of $10 billion to avoid any financial crisis. Nakheel Property Corporation replaced all the members of the Dubai’s Corporate Elite.

Deviations from the Initial Plans

Were there any deviations from the initial plans? Why?

The initial completion of Jumeirah Palm project was expected to be by the end of 2005. However, the project delayed and the first 4,000 units were to be completed by 2006. This never happened and more extension was accorded until April 2007. The first residents started occupying the area in June 2007. This delay was brought about by extensive work that was involved in the reclamation of land.

This project was meant to be the pride of Indian citizens. However, the allocation of the tender to a government-owned Nakheel Properties, a company whose slogan is “Our vision inspires humanity” brought about mixed reactions from the settlers. Some people believed that the project was fishing a lot of cash from the India’s economy. They questioned the reason why the project was allocated to a government-owned company.

Another deviation that was not planned is finding the right sand for dumping where the construction of breakwater would take place. Here desert sand could not help as it was planned earlier. Desert sand was too fine, and it needed sea sand, which is coarser and resistant to waves. This is a deviation to the project since the original plan was to implement desert sand. However, it could not apply in this case. This means that the next alternative was to be applied which could make the budget get a little higher than planned. The total needed sand was about a 100 million cubic meters of sand.

Control and Monitoring Activities

Give two examples of control and monitoring activities mentioned in the film.

The developers are always checking the project to ensure that the project is well maintained. The biggest problem is pressure exerted by the waters to the island causing erosion. As a mode of control to these effects, developers have standby sand dredgers that are used to suck up the sand that has been eroded and deposit it in the areas suffering erosion.

Environmentalists have been convinced that the construction of this mega project would destroy the aquatic lives. The developers have to keep watching this problem regularly. Every six weeks divers have to check the waters and investigate the marine lives. Contrary to this, the project has created new aquatic homes attracting newer species of animals.

Project Crashing

Give an example of project crashing mentioned in the film.

One of the projects that are crashing with Jumeirah Palm project is the Palm Jebel Ali. Even before Palm Jumeirah is complete, a large project, which will be more than fifty percent bigger than this project, is started. It is expected to home 29 luxury hotels. Another larger project is Palm Deira. This project was scheduled to home 500,000 people. However, the engineers worry where to acquire the total supply of sand. It requires 1500 million cubic meters of sand, which is about 15 times the amount needed in Palm Jumeirah. 300 hundred islands are also being constructed about four kilometers into the sea. The islands are expected to take the shape of the world. However, these are privately run Islands, and their completion date was set to be 2007.

Unpredictable Risk in the Project

Give an example of unpredictable risk in the project.

The unpredictable risk is the potential gain or loss of something that has a lot of value. The unpredictable risk in most cases is not foreseen at the beginning of the project. A portion of the unanticipated dangers that go with this venture incorporates silt transport forms. Here solid waves assault the island and drift away from the sand that was gotten on the fronds and trunk. Mostly at the ends of the fronds, both littoral and perpendicular sand erosion is experienced. Competition for materials is another unpredictable risk that is facing this project (Hellebrand, S., 2004). Other vast projects such as Palm Jebel Ali require more volume of sand hence requires a deeper extraction of sand from the sea.

Due to the construction of Jumeirah Palm project, water within the island is becoming stagnant due to the natural flow. Stagnant water mostly causes a lot of harm since it allows a breeding ground for disease-causing organisms such as mosquito larvae. Secondly, stagnant water is dirtied easily and hence discouraging tourism. This stagnation of water has made the project contractors reconsider adding gaps to the outer breakwaters. This will help get rid of the stagnant water.

A structural defect such as an unstable foundation and cracking walls is another unpredictable risk facing this project. Due to the fast construction of some phases of this project, defaults have started appearing. These faults are mostly influenced by strong waves.

References

Hellebrand, S., Fernandez, J. and Stive, R., 2004. Case Study: Design of Palm Island No. 1 Dubai. Terra et Aqua, pp.14-20.