Volcano crisis brings unnatural quiet to Dubai Flower Centre

DUBAI // Under usual circumstances, the Dubai Flower Centre is bustling from 2am to midday, six days a week. Yesterday morning it was all but deserted. Sanjay Pendse, managing director of Globally Fresh, a flower wholesaler, said he had placed orders for flowers from Africa on Saturday. "All our flowers come from South America but they are first sent to Luxembourg where they are then split up and then sent to us here in Dubai," he said.

He has had three shipments cancelled because of the volcano. "We're not in a crisis yet, but in two or three days we just might be," he said. Poornima Mehta, manager of Emiratesflowers.com, said she was using different flowers. "We had an order for orchids but we had to tell the customer we didn't have any," she said. Amy Parker, manager of Dubai-based The Flower Shop, received a large shipment from Europe on Wednesday. "We are expecting a shipment in the next four or five days and hopefully that will arrive on time," she said.

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