Following several disclosures from the company in recent weeks concerning lacklustre sales on the World and construction delays on the Palm Jumeirah, Nakheel has launched a radical overhaul of its management structure.
Under the new regime, each of Nakheel’s mega-projects
will have their own general manager who will report directly to chief executive James Wilson, who joined the company earlier this year from Kuwait-based hospitality group IFA.
Nakheel has moved to make the management of the Palm Jumeirah and the World a top priority, and the first new
appointments to be made at the company will take over these two projects, which together have attracted the most
media scrutiny.
Hamza Mustafa will take over as general manager of the World. Born in Dubai, Mustafa joined Nakheel in October 2002. Mustafa has a sales background and has been brought in to stimulate sales on the island which have been much slower than on the Palm Jumeirah, where villas sold out rapidly.
Mustafa will have complete responsibility for the project, which features 300 man-made islands strategically positioned to form the shape of the world map, lying four kilometres off the coast of Dubai. His role will include driving and managing design and sales, and delivery to end users and developers.
Executive chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, said: “The position of general manager of The World is a key position within Nakheel.
“Hamza has been an integral part of the Nakheel team from the very early stages of the company and throughout our consistent and rapid growth. “He is a highly regarded and valued member of the Nakheel team, and his appointment
will ensure the flawless creation of The World throughout the
design, construction and delivery process.” Nakheel has also recruited Bruce Schlaitzer to run the Palm Jumeirah project.
Other big hitters are also in the process of being appointed for Nakheel’s remaining mega-projects, which are all running at various stages of construction.
Chief executive James Wilson said: “As The Palm, Jumeirah moves into the delivery stage, requiring different management disciplines, a team of international managers, headed by project director, Bruce Schlaitzer have been appointed.
“The new management team brings extensive international experience in developing mega projects such as Canary Wharf, London; Petronas Tower, Malaysia; the EuroDisney project in France; and major large scale resort projects in the
United States.”
He added: “Each Nakheel project will now act as an autonomous strategic business unit complete with its own management, budget, and team. New positions have been created to lead these SBU’s, in the form of general managers.
“Therefore, Nakheel has focused on job creation and there have been no redundancies as a result of the restructuring.”
With the Palm Jumeirah now moving into delivery stage, and the reclamation work on the World nearing completion, the pressure will be on Nakheel’s new management dream team to deliver results fast.
