Mina Zayed demolition: souq back in business as rubble removal begins

Traders and customers return to historic port area after tower block was expertly torn down

The Mina Plant Market is back to business after almost a week after the Mina Plaza demolition. All Photos by Victor Besa / The National

Business was brisk at shops selling camping and household goods.

Rubble of Mina Plaza is all that remains following the November 27 expert demolition.

The plaza tower block was demolished in a matter of seconds.

Not much remains of the tower block. Redevelopment of the Mina Zayed area now starts in earnest.

Helal Miah, from Bangladesh, waits for customers at stall Number 34. Shops will remain open during the redevelopment.

A new plant souq is going to be built.

The Mina Plant Market is back to business after almost a week after the Mina Plaza demolition.

The redevelopment will also include a new fruit and vegetable market.

Mohammad Sulaiman, from Pakistan, has been working at the plant market for more than ten years.

Work to regenerate the area will be carried out in phases, starting with the fish market, which is set for completion next year.

Traders at the plant souq have been assured they can move to the new facility.

Other markets may also be built such as antiques, spices, and seasonal local produce.

Batchu, from Bangladesh, has been working at the plant souq for ten years.

The souqs of Mina Zayed are back in business days after the demolition of Mina Plaza.

Photographs shot by The National show lines of cars back at the plant souq, with the rubble of the tower block in the background.

Business was also brisk at the shops selling camping supplies and outdoor furniture.

Mina Plaza was demolished on November 27 in a matter of seconds. The four-tower development started in 2007 but lay unfinished for many years.

The demolition now lays the groundwork for a major revamp of the historic Mina Zayed area.

Modon Properties, the company behind the demolition of Mina Plaza, is to transform Mina Zayed into a tourism, commercial and residential destination spread across three million square metres. About half of this will be redeveloped as a prime seafront area.

Work is already under way to replace the aging fish market with a modern complex under construction next door to the original.

"The structure is up," said Bill O'Regan, acting chief executive of Modon Properties.

"The next market most likely to move is the plant."

Mr O'Regan said residents and visitors should not be concerned that the vibrancy and heritage of Mina Is lost in the new developments.

“It is very important to us, and the leadership of Abu Dhabi, and the people to preserve it,” he said.

“This project is about the markets and the place, and not about the buildings that we are developing.”