Two billion to watch Burj Dubai ceremony

Dubai: An estimated two billion people around the world are expected to watch live TV coverage of the inauguration of Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world.

A close-up coverage of the event using the latest digital High Definition (HD) transmission technology will be done, Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) managing director and media escort to Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ahmad Al Sheikh said.

Some 400 representatives of local, regional and international media and news agencies will cover the event.

The inauguration of the structure developed by Emaar Properties marks fourth anniversary of the accession day of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum as the Ruler of Dubai.

Meanwhile, online news site ArabianBusiness.com said the "inauguration of the Burj Dubai, developed by Emaar Properties, (it parent Dubai World is fighting a USD59 billion debit crisis) will feature a spectacular display of sound, light, water and fireworks."

"In its design and engineering, Burj Dubai borrows heavily from local traditions of Dubai and the UAE. The tower design is inspired by the desert flower Hymenocallis," Ahmad Al Matrooshi, managing director, UAE, Emaar Properties said.
Though the final height of the super-scrapper is not known, the 1-billion pound Burj Dubai is at least 2,683 ft from its base to the tip of its spire -equivalent of three-and-a-half Canary Wharf towers or two Empire State Buildings

stacked up.

The Burj Dubai, which is not just the tallest building on the planet but also the world's tallest man-made structure, surpassing even the 2,063-ft KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota, America.

A combination of 10,000 fireworks, light beams, choreographed water displays, and sound and music effects will describe the evolution of the world’s most iconic building.

The 169-floor building passes through different climatic zones as the temperature at the top is up to 10 Celsius cooler than that at the bottom. It has the highest swimming pool in the world, on the 76th floor, and the most elevated place of worship with plans for a mosque on the 158th floor.

However, critics are already dismissing the tower as a gaudy memorial to a lost decade of uncontrolled speculation.

There are 900 studios and one-to-four-bedroom flats and 144 apartments in the Burj Dubai, designed by Giorgio Armani. The tower also houses the Italian designer’s first hotel.

The building has, however, received flak from various sectors. Human rights groups and workers' organisations say the tower has been built using "slave labour", the Sunday Times said, adding construction workers, mainly from India and Pakistan, toiled round the clock for USD 5 a day.

Besides, environmentalists have criticised the building's power consumption. Its air-conditioning system is the equivalent of melting 12,500 tonnes of ice a day, and it will consume millions of gallons of desalinated water in a city that already has the world’s highest per capita carbon footprint.

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