Jumeirah Islands vs islands off Jumeirah

Long-time desert resident friends of mine returned from a trip to Jumeirah Islands recently feeling very pleased with their purchase. The general sentiment being one of satisfaction and relief for managing to snap up a villa at the original launch - a bargain compared to current asking prices nearly 50% higher.

The story is different for those with interests set just off the coast of Jumeirah. The first palm island, already running a year late, seems fraught with problems. In a Telegraph article, a former construction worker for Nakheel had a few things to say.

When they first designed Palm Jumeirah, they didn't even bother with fire fighting equipment because they thought they could call the inadequate fireboat out from the port at Jebel Ali.

Moroever, with no fixed master-plan, and the goalposts continually moving, Nakheel doesn't really know how many power cables they need to lay or the actual water requirements.

With the European president of the Urban Land Institute predicting "bottlenecks just exiting each of the 18 fronds of the palm" connecting with "Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai's main highway where traffic moves as slowly as water down a blocked drain" might Palm dwellers end up forced to languish on their luxury island in captivity?