Lulu Island closed for development

The ferry service to Lulu Island has been suspended with effect from Jan 1, but visitors can still use the beaches.

Signs posted at the breakwater say the ferry service to Lulu Island stopped operating on Jan 1.
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ABU DHABI // The ferry service to Lulu Island has been suspended ahead of the island's redevelopment. Signs posted at the water-taxi stand on the breakwater said the island was "closed for an indefinite time" as of Jan 1. Services and facilities, including the island's restaurant and boat, are not operating. Visitors can still use the island's beaches, but only if they have their own means of transport.

Sorouh, which is due to redevelop the island this year, won the contract for the project in 2006 against fierce competition from other leading developers. The cost of the project is estimated at about Dh40 billion (US$10.9bn) and Sorouh hopes Lulu Island will become a luxury tourism destination. Plans for Lulu Island announced at Cityscape Abu Dhabi last year showed a 5.79 square-kilometre area on the island that will house about 20,000 people. It will also include shops and sport facilities.

Neither Sorouh nor Abu Dhabi Municipality, which runs the ferry, could be reached for comment yesterday. mswan@thenational.ae