About 200 new buildings will come into the market in 2008 and 2009 in Abu Dhabi through Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) as part of its mandate to take over the management of the "Commercial Buildings Department" known as the Shaikh Khalifa Committee, according to a senior banking official. The 200 buildings represent the newly approved projects, and will be introduced and managed in the same manner applied by the Khalifa Committee. "I do not have exact numbers but there are about 3,500 commercial buildings and that is about 55,000 residential units and we are still in the process of taking over, but the target date for full takeover is July 1, 2008," Ervin Knox, ADCB's chief executive officer, told Gulf News.
The takeover process is on schedule, where the government has concluded an open tender for the management of the department which was awarded to the ADCB in 2006. By taking over the management of this government activity, a part of ADCB's mandate is to improve the service and at the same time maintain the existing cost structure or even reduce it in some cases. "We have kept that in mind and we have automated a lot of things, so that the people who are participating in the programme will be able to get much of the information they require from the website. We would also open a new dedicated office only handling all these issues in April, as a separate facility," he said.
The ADCB has agreed to maintain and reduce the cost of the programme and provide better service and greater efficiency to the participants. Approval of contracts still remains with the department that oversees this and the actual financing is still provided by the government through the ADCB. The terms and conditions will be determined by the government, including who are entitled for the loans and the amount to be approved which should not exceed Dh70 million. Knox added that those projects that were approved a few months ago and their status of development may vary in terms of construction.
Renewals and administration works will be handled as well by ADCB's office for both landlords and tenants. Totally new units that enter the market will still follow the government's selection criteria. "So if the government choose to maintain the current lottery process we will be doing it, and if they have another selection criterion, we will be the party to implement it." he added. - Emirates News Agency, WAM
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