7-days

 Dubai, Jun 10: The completion date for Emaar’s Burj Dubai has now been put back to September next year, as reports suggest the tower is set be even higher than originally planned. In an emailed statement to 7DAYS last night, an Emaar spokesperson confirmed that the Burj Dubai, which overtook the KVLY TV mast in the US to become the world’s tallest man-made structure in April “will be completed in September 2009”.

Originally scheduled for completion at the end of this year, the tower, whose final height remains a closely guarded secret, had its target date put back to next April. Media reports now say the further postponement is partly due to a plan to add extra floors. But Emaar said the delay was due to the upgrading of apartments following a two to three-month redesign process.

“Given the exclusivity of the project, Emaar Properties is committed to ensuring the best-in-class on all aspects of the tower for which the time-schedule of construction has now been extended,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Emaar yesterday unveiled a giant water fountain, complete with light and sound show, within its dhs800 million Burj Dubai Lake project. It said the landmark would be about 25 per cent larger than ‘The Fountains at Bellagio’ in Las Vegas and expects it to draw ten million visitors a year. The developer is offering all UAE residents the chance to win a cash prize of dhs100,000 in a competition to name the fountain, which is set to be operational early next year.

The competition will run from July 1 to September 15, and entrants can submit their ideas on Emaar’s web site.