Dubai: Dubai Municipality is currently implementing 23 main projects worth around Dh1.74 billion, Hussain Lootah, director-general of the municipality, said.
Among the most high-profile projects are Dubai Frame, Dubai Fish Market, Dubai Safari and the Thuraya astronomical observatory, he added.
Work on some projects is continuing from last year and they are governed by the previous budget. Lootah said some main projects are expected to be ready this year.
Mohammad Mashroom, Director, Project Management Department, Dubai Municipality, said the Dh160 million Dubai Frame project is 75 per cent complete and is expected to be ready by December.
The project, shaped like a giant window frame, is taking shape near Star Gate games and rides area of Zabeel Park. Dubai Frame will allow panoramic views of Old Dubai areas from one side and the New Dubai skyline from another.
The new municipality building in Al Garhoud area, where work is now ongoing, is slated for completion in December. The same month will see the opening of a market and community centre in Hatta. A cluster of villas there will be ready by September as well.
Also finishing in September will be the new Dh269 million fish market project, which is 85 per cent ready.
Another project consisting of villas in Al Quoz will be ready by the end of this year.
In 2016, the municipality will complete nine main projects, including the Dh305 million African Village phase of the overall billion-dirham Dubai Safari project, which is more than 30 per cent complete and expected to open in the third quarter of 2016.
Dubai Safari is coming up in Al Warqa’a area. A landfill for construction waste materials was levelled and cleaned for the site.
Apart from enclosures for animals, the park will also offer an open-air safari-like ride for visitors.
Meanwhile, the Dh20 million Thuraya astronomical observatory will be built by June 2016 in Mushrif Park.
Among the new projects that were this year added to the municipality’s growing list of projects is the Dubai Club for Special Sports, which will be ready by October 2016. Also opening next October will be a kindergarten building in Al Barsha.
