A police report is expected to be lodged against the police chief Musa Hassan and attorney-general A Gani Patail this morning over their alleged misconduct during Anwar Ibrahim's trials in 1998-1999.
Lawyers acting for the PKR de facto leader are expected to lodge the report.Yesterday Anwar had said that he had evidence implicating inspector-general of police Musa and AG Abdul Gani Patail in misconduct, including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against him after his sacking from the government in 1998.
He added that a fresh police report lodged against him for sodomy was a result of "interested parties to attack me in retaliation" over this evidence in his possession.
The report alleging sodomy was filed by Anwar's aide, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, yesterday.
Anwar yesterday had claimed that the accusation against him was a "complete fabrication".
PKR also said that Saiful was arrested and forced by the police to lodge such a report against Anwar.
Wan Azizah: Aide was volunteer staff
This morning party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that Saiful was a volunteer who joined to help the party during the general election period three months ago.
She added that little was known of him and that no background check was done on him as he was just a volunteer. He later become a special assistant to Anwar.
Saiful is a former student leader at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional.
She also added that Anwar "was taking it well" with the latest happening.
Anwar's lawyers are expected to hold a press conference at about 12 noon today, to be followed by one held by Anwar himself.
Meanwhile, Anwar's supporters have started gathering at the Quality Hotel in Shah Alam in anticipation of a police action against the politician.
Many had was there overnight to monitor the situation and protect Anwar, who is at staying at a hotel to attend a two-day PKR workshop with all its elected representatives.
This morning there were two police patrol vehicles outside the hotel.
A request to Mr Fix-It: come back and finish the job
Most of us may have face similar predicaments on maintenance services here in the UAE. Poor customer services with lack of skills and 'too much' excuses are part of parcel living in this region. We have limited options available in the market. However, there are few of them that we have some trusts along the way.
I share this article with a smile. Been there, done that!
My skills at household maintenance are worse than nil. Attempts at DIY usually result in the creation of rather more severe problems, so much so that I am mostly forbidden from gathering my favourite tools — a hammer, super glue and duct tape — to address repairs. I have constantly suffered: in Europe and America, I have grudgingly endured the tyranny of high-priced maintenance; in the Middle East, I have suffered a martyrdom to the inscrutable ways and means of an army of handymen. Looking at both, I choose the former.
Why is it that maintenance is so spectacularly bad in the region? The mere suggestion of preventive maintenance is met with blank stares of incredulity: “What is problem?” inquires the maintenance man when I ask him to come round.“No problem yet, the drains are simply a little slow, which suggests the beginning of a blockage. I don’t want to wake up one morning to find my kitchen swamped with sewage,” I respond.
“Sewage in kitchen? That’s very bad.”“No, not yet, just slow drain,” exasperation creeping into my voice.“So no problem? How I fix no problem?”Eventually I get him to understand that the sink is slightly blocked; when he turns up the next day he brings two car batteries and begins to dump the acid down the drains. “Better than Drano,” he smiles.Fixing explicit problems is no easier, even if they can be readily identified and explained in few words. With most rental properties, there is allegedly a maintenance component that is part of the contract. The large, posh towers seem better than villas; at least there is some chance of mediocre maintenance. But in villas, there is no hope. The strategy seems to be to make maintenance so inept and infuriating as to drive the renter to pay for independent contractors. It works.
I recently hired a highly recommended air-conditioning man to do a thorough cleaning of the nine split-units in my villa. He dutifully appeared with an impressive array of kit and proceeded to wash them inside and out, without making too frightful a mess with the many gallons of filthy water he collected in plastic sheeting over my prized oriental rugs. All told a great success: the A/Cs all blew cold, clean(ish) air. I paid him handsomely and felt smug that for once things had gone according to plan.
And then five of the units began to drip water down the walls. Lots of water. It was not residue from the cleaning, but the condensation that is supposed to be piped to the outside drains. Eight visits later, he has staunched the leaks in all but one; that remaining unit, in my bedroom, now has towels taped around it and a bucket beneath it. I suspect it will remain that way forever.I have countless similar examples. One chap came to fix the heavy metal gates of my driveway. For two hours he swung at them with a sledge hammer and finally managed to get them to close. But could we open them again? A painter came to replace the chalky yellow on the walls with an eggshell white. I bought the paint but he transferred it into a plastic bucket from his last job; my white walls now have purple flecks.
A pipefitter came to plumb in the washing machine. First he knocked a fist-sized hole through the wall to the loo; then he discovered the connection point was somewhere else so he filled the first with plaster and knocked a second hole. The e-vision man drilled holes through my exterior walls and draped cables down the side of my house. The phone company figured it was better to drill through the aluminium window frames to get their wires out. Is it any wonder that whole neighbourhoods look like shantytowns?
Looking back, many of these stories now seem quite funny, but maintenance has safety implications. The standard of electrical work on most residences I have seen is potentially disastrous. Those blackened, melted outlet plugs are a bad sign, and the annoying little shock from the dishwasher can suggest more serious issues. Compromised plumbing and filthy A/C units surely have an influence on health.
The maintenance business here is in dire need of regulation, standardisation and professionalisation. Electricians, plumbers, joiners, A/C technicians and so forth are skilled jobs. How does the resident know that the man who arrives with the toolbox is properly qualified? And if he is, that he is up to date with his skills and the requirements of the latest regulations? As the housing stock increases and the UAE moves towards more owner-occupied housing, the need for quality domestic repair services is going to grow exponentially. The maintenance business needs more than a little maintenance of its own if it is to cope.
Dr Christopher K Brown is Associate Professor of English language and literature at Zayed University
I share this article with a smile. Been there, done that!
My skills at household maintenance are worse than nil. Attempts at DIY usually result in the creation of rather more severe problems, so much so that I am mostly forbidden from gathering my favourite tools — a hammer, super glue and duct tape — to address repairs. I have constantly suffered: in Europe and America, I have grudgingly endured the tyranny of high-priced maintenance; in the Middle East, I have suffered a martyrdom to the inscrutable ways and means of an army of handymen. Looking at both, I choose the former.
Why is it that maintenance is so spectacularly bad in the region? The mere suggestion of preventive maintenance is met with blank stares of incredulity: “What is problem?” inquires the maintenance man when I ask him to come round.“No problem yet, the drains are simply a little slow, which suggests the beginning of a blockage. I don’t want to wake up one morning to find my kitchen swamped with sewage,” I respond.
“Sewage in kitchen? That’s very bad.”“No, not yet, just slow drain,” exasperation creeping into my voice.“So no problem? How I fix no problem?”Eventually I get him to understand that the sink is slightly blocked; when he turns up the next day he brings two car batteries and begins to dump the acid down the drains. “Better than Drano,” he smiles.Fixing explicit problems is no easier, even if they can be readily identified and explained in few words. With most rental properties, there is allegedly a maintenance component that is part of the contract. The large, posh towers seem better than villas; at least there is some chance of mediocre maintenance. But in villas, there is no hope. The strategy seems to be to make maintenance so inept and infuriating as to drive the renter to pay for independent contractors. It works.
I recently hired a highly recommended air-conditioning man to do a thorough cleaning of the nine split-units in my villa. He dutifully appeared with an impressive array of kit and proceeded to wash them inside and out, without making too frightful a mess with the many gallons of filthy water he collected in plastic sheeting over my prized oriental rugs. All told a great success: the A/Cs all blew cold, clean(ish) air. I paid him handsomely and felt smug that for once things had gone according to plan.
And then five of the units began to drip water down the walls. Lots of water. It was not residue from the cleaning, but the condensation that is supposed to be piped to the outside drains. Eight visits later, he has staunched the leaks in all but one; that remaining unit, in my bedroom, now has towels taped around it and a bucket beneath it. I suspect it will remain that way forever.I have countless similar examples. One chap came to fix the heavy metal gates of my driveway. For two hours he swung at them with a sledge hammer and finally managed to get them to close. But could we open them again? A painter came to replace the chalky yellow on the walls with an eggshell white. I bought the paint but he transferred it into a plastic bucket from his last job; my white walls now have purple flecks.
A pipefitter came to plumb in the washing machine. First he knocked a fist-sized hole through the wall to the loo; then he discovered the connection point was somewhere else so he filled the first with plaster and knocked a second hole. The e-vision man drilled holes through my exterior walls and draped cables down the side of my house. The phone company figured it was better to drill through the aluminium window frames to get their wires out. Is it any wonder that whole neighbourhoods look like shantytowns?
Looking back, many of these stories now seem quite funny, but maintenance has safety implications. The standard of electrical work on most residences I have seen is potentially disastrous. Those blackened, melted outlet plugs are a bad sign, and the annoying little shock from the dishwasher can suggest more serious issues. Compromised plumbing and filthy A/C units surely have an influence on health.
The maintenance business here is in dire need of regulation, standardisation and professionalisation. Electricians, plumbers, joiners, A/C technicians and so forth are skilled jobs. How does the resident know that the man who arrives with the toolbox is properly qualified? And if he is, that he is up to date with his skills and the requirements of the latest regulations? As the housing stock increases and the UAE moves towards more owner-occupied housing, the need for quality domestic repair services is going to grow exponentially. The maintenance business needs more than a little maintenance of its own if it is to cope.
Dr Christopher K Brown is Associate Professor of English language and literature at Zayed University
Anwar: Welcome to Kafka land!
From Malaysiakini.
PKR leader unfazed by fresh allegations
Terence Netto Jun 29, 08 2:38pm
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim reached for the rapier in preference to the bludgeon in describing yesterday's police report of sodomy against him as a "tottering regime's last gasp attempt to delay its doom".
An Anwar aide, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, had lodged a police report yesterday alleging that he was sodomised by the former deputy prime minister. Police are expected to arrest Anwar soon to press charges against him.
"It's surreal that this is happening," said Anwar in remarks to Malaysiakini this morning. "But you can never know the nadir to which the desperate would descend."
Anwar was charged with sodomy and corruption in separate cases brought against him in the aftermath of his sacking from the deputy prime minister's post and the deputy presidency of Umno in September 1998.
In light of what was shed by the sensational Lingam video clip which Anwar released last September that was the subject of a royal commission report earlier this year, the court cases against Anwar a decade ago look decidedly shaky.He was sentenced to six years jail on the corruption charges and nine years on the sodomy charge. He was acquitted on appeal in the latter case after having served a total of six years.
His sacking from government and Umno, his initial detention under the Internal Security Act, and subsequent jailing for corruption and sodomy became not just a national but an international cause celebre.
Anwar: Welcome to Kafka land!
"You would think that the authorities would be chastened by the shocks dealt them at the general election last March such that they would not stoop this low to defame me this time.
"Well, welcome to Kafka land!" asserted Anwar sardonically while holed up in a hotel in Shah Alam where he was closeted with PKR and Pakatan Rakyat officials for a two-day meeting.
Franz Kafka was a renowned Czech novelist who wrote dyspeptic novels that evoked the dread faced by innocent people charged with crimes they did not commit.
Kafkaesque is a term that has entered the lexicon to convey the existential angst of the innocent before some surreal and impending disaster.
Anwar's lawyers are planning to lodge a police report imputing allegedly damning conduct to present inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and current attorney-general Gani Patail in connection with the corruption and sodomy cases of a decade ago against Anwar.
Musa and Patail were then a police investigator and a top prosecutor respectively - both on the rise within the criminal justice system.
"Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold," trailed off Anwar, reaching for some resonant lines from the poetry of WB Yeats in trying to come to terms with the latest twist in a personal-cum-political saga that started a decade ago and whose reverberations continue to dog the Malaysian body politic.
PKR leader unfazed by fresh allegations
Terence Netto Jun 29, 08 2:38pm
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim reached for the rapier in preference to the bludgeon in describing yesterday's police report of sodomy against him as a "tottering regime's last gasp attempt to delay its doom".
An Anwar aide, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, had lodged a police report yesterday alleging that he was sodomised by the former deputy prime minister. Police are expected to arrest Anwar soon to press charges against him.
"It's surreal that this is happening," said Anwar in remarks to Malaysiakini this morning. "But you can never know the nadir to which the desperate would descend."
Anwar was charged with sodomy and corruption in separate cases brought against him in the aftermath of his sacking from the deputy prime minister's post and the deputy presidency of Umno in September 1998.
In light of what was shed by the sensational Lingam video clip which Anwar released last September that was the subject of a royal commission report earlier this year, the court cases against Anwar a decade ago look decidedly shaky.He was sentenced to six years jail on the corruption charges and nine years on the sodomy charge. He was acquitted on appeal in the latter case after having served a total of six years.
His sacking from government and Umno, his initial detention under the Internal Security Act, and subsequent jailing for corruption and sodomy became not just a national but an international cause celebre.
Anwar: Welcome to Kafka land!
"You would think that the authorities would be chastened by the shocks dealt them at the general election last March such that they would not stoop this low to defame me this time.
"Well, welcome to Kafka land!" asserted Anwar sardonically while holed up in a hotel in Shah Alam where he was closeted with PKR and Pakatan Rakyat officials for a two-day meeting.
Franz Kafka was a renowned Czech novelist who wrote dyspeptic novels that evoked the dread faced by innocent people charged with crimes they did not commit.
Kafkaesque is a term that has entered the lexicon to convey the existential angst of the innocent before some surreal and impending disaster.
Anwar's lawyers are planning to lodge a police report imputing allegedly damning conduct to present inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and current attorney-general Gani Patail in connection with the corruption and sodomy cases of a decade ago against Anwar.
Musa and Patail were then a police investigator and a top prosecutor respectively - both on the rise within the criminal justice system.
"Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold," trailed off Anwar, reaching for some resonant lines from the poetry of WB Yeats in trying to come to terms with the latest twist in a personal-cum-political saga that started a decade ago and whose reverberations continue to dog the Malaysian body politic.
Anwar is presently seeking shelter at the Turkish Embassy
Najib Denies Involvement - HERE
Wan Azizah to file report against IGP, AG
Jun 29, 08 9:42am
PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is expected to lodge a police report against the police chief Musa Hassan and attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail later today over their alleged misconduct during Anwar Ibrahim's trials in 1998-1999.
Wan Azizah will be making the report on behalf of her husband Anwar Ibrahim.
Yesterday Anwar had said that he had evidence implicating Inspector-General of Police Musa and AG Abdul Gani Patail in the misconduct, including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against him after his sacking from government in 1998.
He added that a fresh police report lodged against him for sodomy was a result of "interested parties to attack me in retaliation" over this evidence in his possession.
The report alleging sodomy was filed by Anwar's aide, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, yesterday.Anwar claimed that the accusation against him was a "complete fabrication". PKR also said that Saiful was arrested and forced by the police to lodge such a report against Anwar.
Anwar is presently seeking shelter at the Turkish embasy after fearing assassination attemps on him.
Wan Azizah: Aide was volunteer staffThis morning Wan Azizah said that Saiful was a volunteer who joined to help the party during the general election period three months ago.She added that little was known of him and that no background check was done on him as he was just a volunteer. He later become a special assistant to Anwar.
Saiful is a former student leader at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional.
Wan Azizah also added that Anwar "was taking it well" with the latest happening.
The police have denied that Saiful was arrested and forced to fabricate evidence as claimed by PKR.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has also denied that the government was behind the new allegation against Anwar and he would let the police investigate the matter and take the necessary action.
Meanwhile, Anwar's supporters have started gathering at the Quality Hotel in Shah Alam in anticipation of police action against the politician.Many were there overnight to monitor the situation and protect Anwar, who is staying at a hotel to attend a two-day PKR workshop with all its elected representatives.
This morning, there were two police patrol vehicles outside the hotel.
Wan Azizah to file report against IGP, AG
Jun 29, 08 9:42am
PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is expected to lodge a police report against the police chief Musa Hassan and attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail later today over their alleged misconduct during Anwar Ibrahim's trials in 1998-1999.
Wan Azizah will be making the report on behalf of her husband Anwar Ibrahim.
Yesterday Anwar had said that he had evidence implicating Inspector-General of Police Musa and AG Abdul Gani Patail in the misconduct, including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against him after his sacking from government in 1998.
He added that a fresh police report lodged against him for sodomy was a result of "interested parties to attack me in retaliation" over this evidence in his possession.
The report alleging sodomy was filed by Anwar's aide, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, yesterday.Anwar claimed that the accusation against him was a "complete fabrication". PKR also said that Saiful was arrested and forced by the police to lodge such a report against Anwar.
Anwar is presently seeking shelter at the Turkish embasy after fearing assassination attemps on him.
Wan Azizah: Aide was volunteer staffThis morning Wan Azizah said that Saiful was a volunteer who joined to help the party during the general election period three months ago.She added that little was known of him and that no background check was done on him as he was just a volunteer. He later become a special assistant to Anwar.
Saiful is a former student leader at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional.
Wan Azizah also added that Anwar "was taking it well" with the latest happening.
The police have denied that Saiful was arrested and forced to fabricate evidence as claimed by PKR.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has also denied that the government was behind the new allegation against Anwar and he would let the police investigate the matter and take the necessary action.
Meanwhile, Anwar's supporters have started gathering at the Quality Hotel in Shah Alam in anticipation of police action against the politician.Many were there overnight to monitor the situation and protect Anwar, who is staying at a hotel to attend a two-day PKR workshop with all its elected representatives.
This morning, there were two police patrol vehicles outside the hotel.
Race to the Holy City
It is already the most expensive real estate on the planet and it is about to become a whole lot more costly as investment floods into property around the holiest site for the world's one billion Muslims.
As the bulldozers move into the old city of Makkah some scholars accuse developers and banks of making vast profits while destroying cultural sites.
Every year millions of Muslims descend on the Holy City of Makkah to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
Now global investors are being invited to invest in the redevelopment of what is already the most expensive real estate on the planet.
Makkah is expected to attract some US$100bn in investment over the next decade and international investment is already flooding into the Holy City where scores of new skyscrapers, shopping malls, hotels and timeshare apartments are planned.
"Investors are looking for a safe haven and Makkah is as close as you can get to a recession proof-market. Makkah will always have Hajj season and Umra season," says Imad Awad, head of equity capital markets at NBD Investment Bank, which is advising on a private placement for a new property company established to redevelop part of the site.
"Muslims are becoming more and more affluent, incomes are rising and these people have a spiritual side of their life and they will always want to visit Makkah," he says.
But the race to redevelop the Holy City has drawn criticism from some Islamic scholars fearful that cultural sites are being destroyed while developers ramp up their profits.
The surging price of crude which reached a record high of US$139.89 a barrel on June 16, is pumping billions of dollars into the Saudi Arabian economy and driving demand for real estate among the nation with the highest number of millionaires in the world.
Wealth is also burgeoning among the region's Muslim nations according to the World Wealth report released earlier this week by Merrill Lynch which revealed the number of super-rich in the region jumped by 15.6% in 2007 to around 400,000.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, had the highest number of millionaires at 101,000, up from 90,000 in 2006. The number of Muslim pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia is also rising and expected to grow at a rate of up to 10% over the next three years.
Hundreds of homes are being demolished around the Hamra to make way for a vast redevelopment of the site by order of HRH King Abdullah, while around 230,000 sq m of land is being cleared for the construction of high-rise apartments, many of which will be sold as timeshares to visitors.
"The whole area surrounding the holy sites is being developed, all the old buildings are being demolished, and in their place, more modern buildings that can accommodate more pilgrims are being constructed," says Dr Fahas Bin Al-Jarboa, deputy secretary general at the Supreme Commission for Tourism in Saudi Arabia.
"We expect Mecca to change dramatically."
But for some scholars the change is too dramatic.
"We are now witnessing the last seconds of Makkah as it was created by God with its landscape and mountains," says Dr Sami Angawi, architect and founder of the Centre for the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj Research, which draws on research from 160 scholars.
"Now they want to take away the mountains and make Makkah into a flat piece of land. The traditional city should have been left alone and we should have expanded outside like every sensible city has done in the world," he says.
Lahem Al Nasser, an independent Islamic banking expert supports the redevelopment of Makkah but says that new residential real estate should be reserved for pilgrims.
"A number of people are concerned about preserving the historical value of the architecture in Makkah and are conservative about building towers that will hide the view of Al Kaaba and its surrounding landmarks," he says.
"It's an understandable viewpoint but the existing need for these developments also has to be taken into consideration."
The 'Rawabi Abraj Al Bait' project is the latest large-scale real estate development to be launched by a newly formed property company spun out of Kuwaiti developer Grand Real Estate and is being built by a unit of Saudi Bin Laden Group.
The first phase will include nine towers, developed on a 'Build, Operate, Transfer' basis at a cost of nearly US$3bn while the entire development will eventually include 21 residential and hotel towers with over 26,000 rooms.
It will provide underground access through tunnels to the Holy 'Haram' area.Property prices around the Haram in Makkah have already reached almost US$67,000 per square metre and are expected to rise four times higher says Awad.
That is almost double the cost of land in Monaco, the most expensive real estate in the world according to data from the Global Property Guide.
"The land around the ‘Haram' costs around 250,000 riyals (US$66,670) per square metre and a lot of developers are expecting the price of this land to go up to one million riyals (US$266,000) per square metre," says Awad.
Saudi Arabia is under pressure to increase the allocations it sets every year for visiting pilgrims from around the world, which has encouraged authorities to add new apartments, shops and hotels around the site.
Last year Muslim pilgrims spent more than 10 billion riyals (US$2.66bn) in Makkah during Hajj, according to the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The influx is attracting increased interest from international hospitality chains, competing to open hotels in the Holy City and around other religious sites in the country.
Hotel groups including Fairmont and Rezidor also plan to tap surging demand in Saudi Arabia for religious tourism with Rezidor aiming to open three new hotels in the Holy Cities by 2010.
"Saudi Arabia is one of our major growth markets."
Last year over two million Hajj pilgrims visited the Holy City during its peak period. Religious tourism will be our main focus," says Jean-Marc Busato, area vice president of the Rezidor Hotel group.
The most expensive land in Makkah is located around the 'Holy Haram' area where views of the Al Kaaba command the highest prices.
As many as 15 million people visited Makkah in 2007 according to Dr Saleh Habib, CEO of Jiwar Real Estate Company, the unit of the Saudi Bin Laden Group that is building towers close to the Holy Haram.
"Demand for real estate is extremely high because there's no supply," he says, adding that visitor numbers to Makkah are rising by as much as 10% every year.
While demolition work gathers pace, the developers of the Holy City will need to tread a careful path between providing desperately needed accommodation for the rising number of pilgrims visiting Makkah while ensuring they do not further alienate conservative opinion opposed to the redevelopment of the old city.
"The planning is only thinking how many people can be accommodated and how much money can be made from buildings overlooking the Kaaba, as if it were a tourist attraction," says Dr Angawi.
"Maybe the development is going to make a lot of money but can't they make it and respect the sites at the same time or do we just make the two Holy Cities totally out of balance when they are supposed to be the example of equilibrium in the world?"
As the bulldozers move into the old city of Makkah some scholars accuse developers and banks of making vast profits while destroying cultural sites.
Every year millions of Muslims descend on the Holy City of Makkah to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
Now global investors are being invited to invest in the redevelopment of what is already the most expensive real estate on the planet.
Makkah is expected to attract some US$100bn in investment over the next decade and international investment is already flooding into the Holy City where scores of new skyscrapers, shopping malls, hotels and timeshare apartments are planned.
"Investors are looking for a safe haven and Makkah is as close as you can get to a recession proof-market. Makkah will always have Hajj season and Umra season," says Imad Awad, head of equity capital markets at NBD Investment Bank, which is advising on a private placement for a new property company established to redevelop part of the site.
"Muslims are becoming more and more affluent, incomes are rising and these people have a spiritual side of their life and they will always want to visit Makkah," he says.
But the race to redevelop the Holy City has drawn criticism from some Islamic scholars fearful that cultural sites are being destroyed while developers ramp up their profits.
The surging price of crude which reached a record high of US$139.89 a barrel on June 16, is pumping billions of dollars into the Saudi Arabian economy and driving demand for real estate among the nation with the highest number of millionaires in the world.
Wealth is also burgeoning among the region's Muslim nations according to the World Wealth report released earlier this week by Merrill Lynch which revealed the number of super-rich in the region jumped by 15.6% in 2007 to around 400,000.
Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, had the highest number of millionaires at 101,000, up from 90,000 in 2006. The number of Muslim pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia is also rising and expected to grow at a rate of up to 10% over the next three years.
Hundreds of homes are being demolished around the Hamra to make way for a vast redevelopment of the site by order of HRH King Abdullah, while around 230,000 sq m of land is being cleared for the construction of high-rise apartments, many of which will be sold as timeshares to visitors.
"The whole area surrounding the holy sites is being developed, all the old buildings are being demolished, and in their place, more modern buildings that can accommodate more pilgrims are being constructed," says Dr Fahas Bin Al-Jarboa, deputy secretary general at the Supreme Commission for Tourism in Saudi Arabia.
"We expect Mecca to change dramatically."
But for some scholars the change is too dramatic.
"We are now witnessing the last seconds of Makkah as it was created by God with its landscape and mountains," says Dr Sami Angawi, architect and founder of the Centre for the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj Research, which draws on research from 160 scholars.
"Now they want to take away the mountains and make Makkah into a flat piece of land. The traditional city should have been left alone and we should have expanded outside like every sensible city has done in the world," he says.
Lahem Al Nasser, an independent Islamic banking expert supports the redevelopment of Makkah but says that new residential real estate should be reserved for pilgrims.
"A number of people are concerned about preserving the historical value of the architecture in Makkah and are conservative about building towers that will hide the view of Al Kaaba and its surrounding landmarks," he says.
"It's an understandable viewpoint but the existing need for these developments also has to be taken into consideration."
The 'Rawabi Abraj Al Bait' project is the latest large-scale real estate development to be launched by a newly formed property company spun out of Kuwaiti developer Grand Real Estate and is being built by a unit of Saudi Bin Laden Group.
The first phase will include nine towers, developed on a 'Build, Operate, Transfer' basis at a cost of nearly US$3bn while the entire development will eventually include 21 residential and hotel towers with over 26,000 rooms.
It will provide underground access through tunnels to the Holy 'Haram' area.Property prices around the Haram in Makkah have already reached almost US$67,000 per square metre and are expected to rise four times higher says Awad.
That is almost double the cost of land in Monaco, the most expensive real estate in the world according to data from the Global Property Guide.
"The land around the ‘Haram' costs around 250,000 riyals (US$66,670) per square metre and a lot of developers are expecting the price of this land to go up to one million riyals (US$266,000) per square metre," says Awad.
Saudi Arabia is under pressure to increase the allocations it sets every year for visiting pilgrims from around the world, which has encouraged authorities to add new apartments, shops and hotels around the site.
Last year Muslim pilgrims spent more than 10 billion riyals (US$2.66bn) in Makkah during Hajj, according to the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The influx is attracting increased interest from international hospitality chains, competing to open hotels in the Holy City and around other religious sites in the country.
Hotel groups including Fairmont and Rezidor also plan to tap surging demand in Saudi Arabia for religious tourism with Rezidor aiming to open three new hotels in the Holy Cities by 2010.
"Saudi Arabia is one of our major growth markets."
Last year over two million Hajj pilgrims visited the Holy City during its peak period. Religious tourism will be our main focus," says Jean-Marc Busato, area vice president of the Rezidor Hotel group.
The most expensive land in Makkah is located around the 'Holy Haram' area where views of the Al Kaaba command the highest prices.
As many as 15 million people visited Makkah in 2007 according to Dr Saleh Habib, CEO of Jiwar Real Estate Company, the unit of the Saudi Bin Laden Group that is building towers close to the Holy Haram.
"Demand for real estate is extremely high because there's no supply," he says, adding that visitor numbers to Makkah are rising by as much as 10% every year.
While demolition work gathers pace, the developers of the Holy City will need to tread a careful path between providing desperately needed accommodation for the rising number of pilgrims visiting Makkah while ensuring they do not further alienate conservative opinion opposed to the redevelopment of the old city.
"The planning is only thinking how many people can be accommodated and how much money can be made from buildings overlooking the Kaaba, as if it were a tourist attraction," says Dr Angawi.
"Maybe the development is going to make a lot of money but can't they make it and respect the sites at the same time or do we just make the two Holy Cities totally out of balance when they are supposed to be the example of equilibrium in the world?"
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