[BITList] Indians flee Dubai as dreams crash

[John Feltham]

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1221350

Indians flee Dubai as dreams crash
N Raghuraman / DNA

It's the great escape by Indians who've hit the dead-end in Dubai.

Local police have found at least 3,000 automobiles — sedans, SUVs,
regulars — abandoned outside Dubai International Airport in the last
four months. Police say most of the vehicles had keys in the ignition,
a clear sign they were left behind by owners in a hurry to take
flight.

The global economic crisis has brought Dubai's economic progress,
mirrored by its soaring towers and luxurious resorts, to a stuttering
halt. Several people have been laid off in the past months after the
realty boom started unraveling.

On the night of December 31, 2008 alone more than 80 vehicles were
found at the airport. "Sixty cars were seized on the first day of this
year," director general of Airport Security, Mohammed Bin Thani, told
DNA over the phone. On the same day, deputy director of traffic,
colonel Saif Mohair Al Mazroui, said they seized 22 cars abandoned at
a prohibited area in the airport.

Faced with a cash crunch and a bleak future ahead, there were no
goodbyes for the migrants — overwhelmingly South Asians, mostly
Indians - just a quiet abandoning of the family car at the airport and
other places.

While 2,500 vehicles have been found dumped in the past four months
outside Terminal III, which caters to all global airlines, Terminal
II, which is only used by Emirates Airlines, had 160 cars during the
same period.

"The construction and real estate industry has been hit following the
global slowdown and the direct fallout is that professionals working
in the realty industry are rapidly losing their jobs," said a senior
media professional, in-charge of a realty supplement in Dubai. "In
fact, my weekly real estate supplement usually had 60% advertisement
and ran into 300-odd pages. In the last seven weeks, it's down to 80
pages and with fewer advertisments," he added.

Mumbai resident D Nair (name changed) had been living in a plush
highrise in Sharjah for the past four years. However, the script went
horribly wrong when his contract was terminated. Nair used all his
credit cards to their maximum limit, shopping for people back home. He
then discarded his Honda Accord before returning to India for good.
Nair, who stays in a rented apartment in Navi Mumbai today, has a Rs15
lakh loan with a Dubai bank.

Another such victim of the meltdown said he bid goodbye to his car in
a small bylane near the airport and hailed a cab. "I was scared
because a number of us were doing the same and did not want to be
questioned by the police. There was no way I could afford to pay the
EMI of 1100 Dhirams for my Ford Focus," he told DNA on condition of
anonymity.

When contacted, the dealer for Asgar Ali cars in Sharjah said, "We are
helpless and do not know how to tackle this issue. A large number of
such owners are from Indian, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other South
Asian countries."








ooroo

If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door.

Anon.



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