Dubai Marine World Project Delayed

Published in 7days.ae: Wednesday 1 November, 2006

Dubai's controversial dolphinarium will open at least two months late and will not be ready until January 2007 at the earliest. The Dubai Creek Park project, which includes two pools to house three dolphins, was scheduled to open at the beginning of this month. But delays in the construction of the 1,500-seat stadium and a building to hold restaurants, cafés, classrooms and a gift shop have made that impossible, said Christopher Richardson, project manager for Royal Sergrex, the company managing the project in partnership with Dubai Municipality.

“It's really tough because it's the story of most projects in Dubai. Construction companies are backlogged with other projects and getting anything finished on time becomes a matter of who begs the most,” Richardson told 7DAYS. He said delays in supply, delivery and shortage of manpower have also contributed to the late opening. The three dolphins aged 15, 17, and 19 will be transported to Dubai from Royal Sergrex's aquarium in the Ukraine by the end of December.

The project has been criticised by animal welfare groups, who say captivity radically alters the dolphins’ natural behaviour and has been proven to shorten their lifespan. But officials have maintained the dolphinarium is no different than a zoo and that the dolphins heading for Dubai are second and third generation captives and don't even know what freedom is.

The project has faced delays since its inception with the start of construction held up because of building licences. “It's out of our control and there is no way around it. But we prefer to finish the project late than rush and strain our workers which could end up in injuries and accidents,” he said. Richardson hopes the dolphinarium will open in time for the Dubai Shopping Festival. “We expect a full house. So we are not going to heavily promote the opening to avoid chaos and overcrowding,” he said.

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