Dubai, June 18, 2017:  Schon Properties, a leading private real estate developer in the UAE, and Al Hamad Group of Companies, the premier construction group, jointly organised an Iftar for 700 labourers working on construction of their joint venture, iSuites – a cluster of 2,550 branded hotel apartments project, with a development value exceeding Dh3.2 billion.

This initiative comes part of the partners Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme as they both strengthen their CSR outreach in line with the spirit of the Year of Giving and the UAE government’s vision.

The Iftar dinner programme was held at the Al Hamad Labour Camp – where the labourers converged after a day’s hard work to break their fast. 

Mr Danial Schon, President of Schon Properties attended the iftar joined by senior managers of both organisations. He was quoted to have said, “As an organisation that believes in caring and sharing, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) remains an essential part of Schon Properties’ DNA – long before CSR became a corporate slogan in the region.

“Breaking the fast, as a team, corporate managers and workers, we pay homage to the sharing spirit of the holy month of Ramadan,” he said.

Schon Properties’ Iftar to feed labourers, comes a few days after the UAE Government announced serious steps to encourage the private sector to promote CSR activities – as part of the Year of Giving campaign. Private companies are now required to make budgetary provisions for up to Dh500,000 for CSR activities per year.

“It is no surprise to us, that under the guidance of his highness sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Government has complemented the Happiness initiative by introducing serious guidelines  to boost the CSR culture and investment within the private sector companies –This ethos of giving back to society has always been one we hold dear at Schon Properties.” Mr Danial Schon says.

“As an organisation, we want to be at the forefront of the culture of giving and in the coming months, we will further strengthen our CSR activities.”

Schon Properties and Al Hamad Group of Companies have started constructing iSuites at a master-planned community within Dubai Investment Park – scheduled to be completed by June 2020 in time for the Expo 2020.

On May 21, main contractor, Dubai Civil Engineering (part of Al Hamad Group of Companies), broke ground on the project officially to complete 2,550 hotel apartment suites, 52 restaurants, outdoor cafes and 125,000 square feet shopping mall. This is all surrounded by a manmade beach and a lagoon spread over 5 acres – to be completed ahead of the Expo 2020.

Mr Nashat Sahawneh, Chairman of Al Hamad Group of Companies, said, “Our CSR initiative to share Iftar with labourers comes from our hearts and is part of our culture of giving. It is their hard work that helps us build projects and offer a great living experience to home owners across the U.A.E.

The project is well positioned to serve visitors of the Expo 2020 – that will host 25 million people within six months – many of whom will need hotel apartments to stay. The ground-breaking ceremony will be followed by a flurry of construction activities that will see thousands of workers and construction equipment on ground in the next few months.

At its peak, more than 4,000 workers are expected to work to complete the project ahead of the Expo 2020.