Evening folks,
I want to respond to Jamal's email below, and thought it
an opportune time to give a general overview of what the group has achieved in
the short time it has been in existence.
This mail is not on behalf of the committee, but from
myself.
I'm very happy that group members send in their
concerns..in fact I want to encourage it so we continue to gauge the concerns of
all members. At times, however, it's simply impossible to reply to
everyone, but be assured every single email is read and every viewpoint is
considered.
This group first started with about five people trying
to get some justice from Hydra. As I'm sure most of you found out, despite
Hydra's insistence at the time that they only "deal with individuals", it was
virtually impossible to get any sense from the customer service department, and
there was certainly no chance of getting any improvement to the
contract.
I ended up meeting the other "co-founder" of this group
in the Hydra office one afternoon, and realised that there were many others in
the same situation. Through many different means (facebook, website and the
occasional newspaper article), we managed to publicize our group, and
it quickly grew. Initially, Hydra refused to acknowledge us but as our concerted
media campaign eventually took hold, they finally accepted us a
powerful advocacy group for many, many investors.
As the workload grew, we accepted help from a number of
very skilled members, including architects, lawyers, academics, accountants,
financial advisers, quantity surveyors, media experts and local Emirati
advisers. This skilled group of people now forms our executive committee;
a voluntary, non-elected group of members who give their time and
expertise to work through the myriad issues that complicate this whole
situation.
There is no simple solution to this affair. Of our 350
members, there are probably 30 different groups of people in 30 different
situations. As a committee, we have gathered together an enormous amount of
information about Hydra, about the property market in general, about the legal
and contractual situation in Abu Dhabi, and numerous other information from many
sources. This information allows us to work through various different scenarios
to effect a satisfactory resolution to what at the moment is a complete
mess.
To date, we have achieved what no-one else has managed.
Sensible, high level discussions with Hydra on many contentious contract
clauses, and discussion with them about how to regain investor confidence with
the company. We are attempting to conduct a process of due diligence on the
company to access its genuine ability to complete these projects as promised. In
parallel to these processes, we also have a number of other strategies in place
should these actions end up ineffectual. We are also about to enter discussions
with the banks regarding finance and interest payments. We retain close links to
the media should we need to gear up our media campaign
again.
As a skilled and highly resourced group, we have taken
advice on litigation, and are very aware of the extreme difficulties that option
presents. It will never be ruled out, and always remains an option, but in the
first instance, there is much that can be achieved within the power of the group
without resorting immediately to expensive litigation.
As someone who has put hundreds and hundreds of hours
into this group, I take personal exception to a couple of the remarks
below. that the committee's
goals is to get some attention from hydra......It feels we are not dealing
contractual....... BUT rather a love story between two lovers trying to make
out....! I am very confident that the professional
skills of the committee are working in the best interests of the very large
majority of investors. Commenting about "two lovers" denigrates the substantial
amount of progress the committee has made to date. Although it may not all be
obvious to all members, there has been an enormous amount of work put in to
date, and there remains an enormous amount of work still to be
done.
Almost all of the issues addressed in the email below
are being addressed by the committee. We believe we can achieve a reasonable
result through discussion, whilst still reserving the right to move to
litigation.
Unfortunately talk of "contractual rights" is
a misnomer. There are no set property rights ensconced in Abu
Dhabi law, although hopefully next year the government will publish some laws
that protect investors. In the meantime, we have to use our resources and skills
to achieve what we want. At the end of the day, group members will have to
decide for themselves if they accept the new terms Hydra offer, but bear in mind
those new terms have only been offered because of pressure we have brought to
bear on the company.
I'm sure there will still be investors unhappy with what
is offered. That remains your choice, and should particular sub-groups wish to
move to litigation, I will personally assist those members to move forward on
that.
In the interim, if you're not happy with what the
committee is doing, then you have every right to move off in your own direction.
I don't wish for one second to prevent anyone communicating their concerns and
position, but do bear in mind we won't ever be able to please all 350 members
100%. If you don't feel we're representing your needs adequately, I will refund
any contributions you have made to the group fund in full (a better deal than
you'll get out of Hydra I suspect!)
The committee hopes to have some details out soon about
the new terms offered in the contract (or at least have Hydra communicate it to
its clients). We are aware of the limitations of the coming summer break, and
are working with that in mind.
Please once again accept this response as my own, not on
behalf of the the committee.
Regards
Graeme Perry.
Dear Narendar, (I see your
valid concern)
-
All the group should make recommendations to the Hydra's elected committee who
are currently negotiating with Hydra.......
- I
feel sad when I read the committee's e mails announcing achievements
when hydra agrees to talk with them....
I
feel sometimes that the committee's goals is to get some attention from
hydra......It feels we are not dealing contractual....... BUT rather a love
story between two lovers trying to make out....!
-
Our lawyers should be talking to hydra at this stage......and our committee
should be talking only to the lawyers....The legal procedure shouldn't be
delayed any further.....Otherwise it won't be useful to go legal in the near
future.....it would be too late for the legal system to be
effective......Hydra is buying time.....Ask any lawyer he'll tell
you that...!
-
if it needs each of us to contribute Dh 5,000 / each to employ a 1st class
lawyer firm to achieve our contractual goals.....Then let it be .....its better
to add Dh 5,000 to protect our already money at risk than either achieving
a waste of time love story or an investment yet to be delivered by 2012 (May be)
...!!!!!!!
-
It seems we are financing football clubs acquisitions (2 so far) + TV shows (on
going successfully !!) BUT construction progress to be shifted to
year 2012 (May be .....if enough money left !!!
- Contractually ,The Group goals should
not be less than the following :-
1. To revise the SPA to be mutually agreeable to both
parties.
2. If handing-over is shifted to end 2011 ...Then cost saving to be shifted
to Investors.
3. If handing over is shifted to end 2011 ...Then consolidation of
units should be made possible.
4. Area increase is not acceptable
or justifiable especially with a project yet to be completed end
2011..
5. No payments to Hydra until
construction progress is prorata payments received by
Hydra.
6. Hydra to link all future installments to construction
progress.
Please comment ? And what are your suggestions if
different from above...?
Regards
Jamal