Arab Political Rap Made in Dubai

Published: April 02, 2009, 08:59
Thought provokers: Reality rap By
Awad Mustafa, Staff Reporter

They call themselves thought-provokers, even activists, but with no political affiliations.

Meet a new breed of rappers, for whom freedom of expression knows no bounds here in Dubai. Part of an underground hip-hop scene, they go about airing views that might not be welcomed in their home countries.

Raising awareness

Fouad Abdul Hadi is raising awareness on the plight of war victims in Palestine, where he grew up. Witness to the atrocities of the Jenin massacre in 2002, Hadi, 14 then, began to write about the mayhem that surrounded him.

“I thought the only conflict in the Arab world was in Palestine but when I came to Dubai, I learnt about the humanitarian crises in Darfur and Somalia,” said Hadi.
“After seeing that people don’t care any more about what happens in Palestine, I decided to remind people of this and other forgotten regions.”

Hadi’s producer, Jabbar or Hani Khateeb, is also a Palestinian but he has never been to Palestine. “I first learnt about my Palestinian identity from my grandfather,” he said, adding that he has lived in many parts of the world, including Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Indonesia, Chicago and now Dubai.

The 25-year-old producer and rapper was arrested in Chicago when, as a student at the University of Illinois, he spoke at an anti-Bush rally.

"

I was in a country where freedom of speech was obliged by law but I still had to go through what I did

,” he said.

Their teammate, Lucky Swerte, is a 25-year-old Swiss producer and rapper who was born in Indonesia. “The economic collapse of Indonesia in 1997-98 provoked me to write music that captures how I feel about corruption in my country.”

The music that these artistes have been producing is available on tapes and CDs and can be downloaded from www.myspace.com/therecipedxb
Check out the video excerpts of the interview

Kerry's Killer

Kerry's alleged killer under the spot light
Published: April 09, 2009, 15:08

Arnold charged with murder in Winter case
By Awad Mustafa, Staff Reporter

A British expatriate charged with killing his South African ex-girlfriend pleaded not guilty after prosecution formally indicted him in a Dubai court on Thursday.

Mark Arnold, who faces charges of premeditated murder for killing Kerry-Carol Winter on August 20 last year said “no” after the charges were read out to him by a court translator Thursday morning.

Her body is yet to be found.

Arnold, 42 a former operations director at Hill International, is charged with beating Winter with a baseball bat at her house in Al Barsha in Dubai, killing her, wrapping her body in a blanket and putting her in a bag with weights before dumping in the sea.

The prosecution presented testimony of 10 witnesses, including a friend of Arnold who testified that he was asked by the defendant to buy a GPS tracking device, a waterproof bag and burlap sacks from Carrefour.

Another key witness was Arnold’s Pakistani driver who testified that he was told to collect Winter’s mobile from his house and to forward any message from it to Arnold while he was in the UK. The driver also testified that he drove Arnold around when the defendant was tracking Winter.

Arnold’s ex-wife Dianne Joy Arnold told prosecutors that she was approached by Arnold on the eve of August 25 after he drove Winter’s car to Dianne’s house. She saw Arnold was washing the car at her house and was asked by him to keep Winter’s mobile but she refused to do so.

A Russian witness who was the last person in contact with Winter before her disappearance testified that she received a call from Winter at 7 pm August 20 saying that she was being assaulted by Arnold. Later, she received an SMS from Winter claiming that she had left the country for a long weekend. The prosecution claimed that this SMS was sent by Arnold who had Winter’s mobile.

The prosecution told the court that Arnold’s fingerprints were found on Winter’s car. Also, Winter’s blood traces were found in the car, the prosecution told the court.
The case has been adjourned till April 24.

Arnold, who is defended by criminal lawyer Ahmed Al Hammadi also faces a civil suit from Winter’s family which is being handled by another criminal lawyer Hussain Al Jaziri.

RERA sweep

hey wassup!

just wanted to say i am alive, and i am desperately trying to keep writing but this brotha b busy n shi'!

lemme give ya sumthin to contemplate about, my last story....

Published: April 09, 2009, 09:00
Rera: Dealing with defaulters
By Awad Mustafa, Staff Reporter

The number of property-related cases has jumped significantly this year – many of which involve off-plan sales, cases of investors withdrawing and illegal provisions in purchase agreements, Real Estate Court’s top judge said.

Abdul Qader Mousa Moham-mad, Chief Justice of Dubai Real Estate Court, said from September 1 to December 31, 2008, the number of cases filed was 173. But, in just three months – from January 1 to March 30 this year – 267 cases have been filed. Investors not paying

“Some investors do not make the payments or refrain from making further payments due to fears that developers may fold up or run away,” Mohammad said.

The Real Estate Court, a civil court, was created in September last year to deal with property disputes arising in the wake of Dubai’s property boom.

Most of the cases involve buyers who have stopped paying for units booked with developers.

* Read related story: Damac 'will pay out over project delays'

“In this case, the developer has to alert Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera), which then informs the investor that he has a 30-day period to fulfil his contractual obligations. “If the investor does not fulfil his obligations, the developer has the right to cancel the contract and return the money paid, minus 30 per cent of the amount already paid – and not of the total contract value,” he said.

Pay back clause

“A number of investors wish to discontinue payment and are trying to get back 70 per cent of the amount they paid. As per law, developers are supposed to retain 30 per cent of the amount already paid by the investor,” he added.

The judge’s explanation puts to rest confusion surrounding this clause. Developers used to claim that they may keep 30 per cent of the total contract unit’s price and not 30 per cent of the amount paid, in case an investor withdraws.

The judge also explained that when a purchase agreement signed by the buyer and seller contains provisions that contradict the law, those provisions stand null and void.

“Property laws in Dubai contain general laws. Provisions in the purchase contract are accepted as legal if they do not breach the law,” Mohammad said. Other cases involve delays in construction and hand-over of properties sold off-plan, he explained.

Developers at fault

“We have cases lodged against developers who did not hand over projects on time or have not even started building. In such cases, we look at the contracts individually and then the court decides. If the developer is found to be at fault, we then nullify the contract and order them to repay investors the full amount paid by them.”

Many of the cases lodged by investors have to do with properties sold off-plan, he added.

“A lot of complainants come to the court without purchase contracts. They present only booking forms issued by either developers or property brokers. The court settles contractual disputes. So, in case of booking forms or instalment receipts issued to buyers, these documents are viewed as contracts, but disputes arising out of clauses not mentioned in these documents need to be proved in court,” he said.

He also stressed that the law on escrow account is clear.

The Escrow Law

“Law No 8 of 2007 [the Escrow Law] states that a project developer has to place a deposit or financial collateral of equal value of the property at Rera.

“This is why every buyer has to be registered in the Real Estate Registry in order to guarantee his rights.”

The court demonstrated its strict adherence to the law last month when it ordered a Dubai developer to pay over Dh8 million to an investor after it deemed the purchase contract the company gave to the buyer invalid as the developer failed to register the land with the Land Department.

Advice to buyers and investors

Under Law No 13, 2008, the developer has no right to ask buyers to pay extra money for any increase in the size of the unit, if the project is completed

Service charges must be Rera- approved. Before paying service charge, the buyer must register his unit with the Dubai Land Department and wait for approval

Go to the Land Department directly to register the unit; don’t pay the excess charge if the unit is ready (Law No 13, 2008)

Charges for utilities should be imposed by the utility provider; a developer has no right to charge unit buyers for chiller connection unless the provider allows the developer to do it contractually

The property registration fee is two per cent, to be paid to the Land Department by the owner (one per cent) and the developer (one per cent)

Buyers are not obliged under the law to sign anything they don’t agree on

(Additional inputs from Mohammed N. Al Khan)