Tameer Towers’ investors push ahead with legal action over delays

A group of 75 investors in the stalled Tameer Towers project in Abu Dhabi are pushing ahead with legal action against its developer in a bid to reclaim their original investments. Investors in the $1.9bn Tameer Towers development claimed they are entitled to the compensation after the developer, Tameer Holding Investment, missed its completion date by nearly a year. “It was supposed to be delivered by was the end of 2011. As per the contract, this gives us the right to cancel the contract and request our money back,” investor Haitham Hassan told Arabian Business. “We have already started legal action. If we don’t hear back from Tameer within the allocated time we will plan to file an arbitration case. We don’t believe that this project will be delivered in a timely manner or in the same quality that it was supposed to be,” he added. The original delivery date for the towers on the Al Reem Island project was scheduled for June 2011, with a clause allowing a six month delay to December. The Dubai-based developer has to date only completed 13 levels in Tower A and four in Tower B. Tameer has said it is not at fault and claimed the delay is due to an issue related to the contractor. The firm was not available for comment when contacted by Arabian Business. Tameer on February 26 issued a statement confirming it had completed 21 percent of Tower A and B. Recommencement of works are scheduled for May 2012 with phase A of the development due for completion by the fourth quarter of 2013, the company said. “Tameer remains committed to the delivery of the project and confirms that the Tameer Towers development on Al Reem Island, Abu Dhabi, remains an active and important focus for the group,” it added. Several stalled construction projects in Abu Dhabi have been resumed in recent months. Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council in January approved a raft of projects in the capital including the delayed branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums after a review of development plans. The Executive Council, chaired by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, also approved two projects for the redesigning and building of a new national museum and the cultural Hilli site in the city of Al Ain.