Latest news with #industrialzone
Zawya
6 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Kuwait's first industry zone completed
Kuwait has finally completed its first industry zone following a delay of more than five years due to disputes with contractors. The Public Authority for Industry (PAI) said it would manage Al-Shadadiya industrial zone south of the capital Kuwait City after it was completed this month. Newspapers in the founding OPEC member quoted PAI as saying the new zone spans an area of nearly 6 million square metres and would comprise 1,036 factories covering chemicals, foodstuffs, furniture, home appliances and other light products. Designs and infrastructure of the project cost nearly 100 million Kuwaiti dinars ($330 million), which was funded by the Kuwaiti government as part of a medium-term industrial strategy. 'This project has just been completed and handed over to PAI following a delay of more than five years due to poor performance and lack of funds by the first contractor,' the Kuwaiti Arabic language daily Alqabas said on Wednesday. (Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon) (
Al Bawaba
23-06-2025
- Al Bawaba
Massive fire destroys five factories in Malaysia, oil spill suspected
Published June 23rd, 2025 - 02:48 GMT Preliminary reports suggest that an oil spill may have triggered the blaze. Emergency teams rushed to the scene to contain the fire, which sent thick plumes of smoke across the industrial zone. ALBAWABA- A massive fire broke out in Cahaya Kota Puteri, Malaysia, engulfing and severely damaging five factories, including an oil facility. Preliminary reports suggest that an oil spill may have triggered the blaze. Emergency teams rushed to the scene to contain the fire, which sent thick plumes of smoke across the industrial zone. 📹 حريق هائل يلتهم 5 مصانع في ماليزيا اندلع حريق هائل في مدينة كاهايا كوتا بوتيري في ماليزيا، أدى إلى تضرر 5 مصانع بما في ذلك منشأة نفط، ويعتقد أن تسربًا نفطيًا هو السبب في اندلاع الحريق — Sputnik Arabic (@sputnik_ar) June 23, 2025 Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident and are assessing the full extent of the damage. Also Read Israel carries out new attacks on Iranian military sites © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
RNZ News
22-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Blenheim resident clashes with council over noisy building site
Dave McFarlane, left, and his partner Dorothy Lewis say the construction site near their property has been operating at all hours of the day. Photo: Supplied/Kira Carrington When 77-year-old Dave McFarlane and his partner Dorothy Lewis sit in their living room, noise from the nearby construction site plays like a background radio. Not just during normal operating hours, McFarlane said, but at all hours of the day. "They were out there working until four or five o'clock on a Saturday," McFarlane said. "And they were doing vibro-rolling. If they do vibro-rolling over there, this whole house shakes." Vibro-rolling used a heavy duty roller to compact the ground with vibration. McFarlane said he thought that when the Marlborough District Council approved the development of the business park opposite his Aerodrome Rd property, it would enforce the usual limits on operating hours. But because the property was in an industrial zone, the council said there were no limits on operating hours except for land disturbance works. Vector One Nine Ltd was developing the site into a 50-lot business park, consent documents showed. Because the construction site has an industrial zoning, there are no operating hours limits in the council's resource consent. Photo: Supplied/Kira Carrington Director Phil Robinson said the council had not been in touch with him about any complaints. They would have been dealt with by one of the three or four contractors on site, he said. McFarlane and Lewis' property, on the west side of Aerodrome Rd, was in a rural zone. The industrial-zoned construction site was between Omaka Aerodrome to the south, Taylor River Reserve to the east, and the Omaka Landing subdivision to the north, which was zoned urban residential. The construction site's zoning was changed from rural to industrial in the region's major planning document, the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan, which was finished in 2020. An appeal of the new zoning by Omaka Landing's developers was rejected. In January, McFarlane phoned the council to complain about vibro-rolling on a Saturday afternoon. A council staffer told him the operating hours were Monday to Friday, and until noon on a Saturday, McFarlane said. "And I was quite happy with that because that's pretty normal." On May 24, when workers started erecting a building outside of those hours, McFarlane contacted the council again. "You can hear the vehicles going over there," he said. "I could hear all that on the Saturday when they were working. "[The council] came back and said, 'no ... there's no conditions, no hours', and I thought 'that's weird' because I know for a fact there was," he said, referring to the phone call in January. McFarlane's property is zoned as rural. Photo: Supplied/Kira Carrington Council compliance manager Rachel Williams said because the site had industrial zoning, the only restrictions on operating hours were for land disturbance works. Use of the vibro-roller did not count as land disturbance works, Williams said. "Equipment operators were spoken to on site and they decided to restrict their hours, which was done voluntarily on their part to address the complainant's concerns," Williams said. "Under the Proposed Marlborough Environment Plan, there are no rules that restrict the hours of construction, rather the rules relate to mitigating effects such as noise through standards that limit noise levels," Williams said. "To date no evidence of a breach has been found." McFarlane said he thought he should have been consulted back when the resource consent was lodged with the council, particularly given there was no limit on operating hours. "Somebody decided it wasn't notifiable because there was nobody impacted. Yeah right," he said. "It's directly opposite all our land. "This council is doing what the hell they feel like whenever they feel like it, and to hell with the rest of us." McFarlane's property is on the other side of Aerodrome Rd from the construction site. Photo: Supplied/Kira Carrington McFarlane met with the council on June 10. He said they reiterated that the site was zoned as an industrial area, but told him to call council if a vibro-roller was in use on a Saturday. "They said everything was done by process. They seem very reluctant to admit there might be a problem." McFarlane said he planned on writing a detailed letter to council laying out his complaint. "So it continues," he said. Williams said the council would continue to work with McFarlane to address his concerns. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
20-06-2025
- RNZ News
Tenancy Tribunal orders landlord Victor Davis to pay $9k following illegal storage unit tenancy
By Tara Shaskey, Open Justice reporter of Photo: Jonathan Weiss / 123RF A father desperate for accommodation moved into a storage unit in an industrial zone with his five-year-old daughter and their pet, paying $430 a week for space with no fresh air or natural light. The illegal tenancy lasted only a matter of months and ended "very badly", leaving the girl "emotional" and the man extremely stressed. According to a Tenancy Tribunal decision, the landlord, Victor Davis, had told the man to leave and then, a week before Christmas, locked them out of the unit and seized some of their belongings. Now, about six months on, the man said he was still trying to rebuild his life. He told the tribunal he could not believe how Davis treated him and described what happened as being "kicked out of his home" and that the effect was "gut-wrenching". The tribunal found the man had entered into the tenancy agreement in good faith and that Davis was likely motivated by money and had profited unfairly. Davis claimed he rented the man a storage unit and was not aware he had decided to live there. However, the tribunal found evidence, including that they signed a standard residential tenancy agreement, proved he had most likely rented the industrial unit as a home, and knew that he was not allowed to. "The living situation was so unusual that the landlord must have known he should check with the council before advertising and offering to rent to the tenant," the tribunal's decision said. The man, who has name suppression, turned to the tribunal in the days after his tenancy ended last year, claiming compensation and exemplary damages because of how it ended. Davis counterclaimed for rent arrears and compensation for moving the man's belongings. In the recently released decision, the tribunal said the man urgently needed accommodation when he answered an advertisement relating to the unit. The storage unit was located in an industrial area of Ōtaki, on the Kāpiti Coast, and the only entrance was through a large garage roller door. There was an office space at the back of the unit where the man and his daughter lived. It had no external windows and the only way they could get fresh air and daylight was to have the garage door open, which meant the unit would fill up with dust and debris. The man came from a three-bedroom house and utilised the storage part of the unit for storage. In the office space, there was a bathroom with "some sort of extractor fan that the tenant had no control over", and a kitchenette with a fridge, a sink and some hobs. They were allowed to have their pet live with them, though the decision does not state what animal the pet was. The tenancy lasted around 17 weeks, during which he paid $6020. It started falling apart around October last year, when the man gave Davis a "heads up" that he would be moving out because he did not feel safe living in the unit. The man said that on 4 December, there was an argument and Davis told him he had two days to leave. However, Davis told the tribunal he could not recall telling the man to move out, but he was concerned about rent arrears, drugs and safety. A few days after the argument, there was allegedly no power or water in the unit. The man said he took that as a sign that Davis was forcing him out, so he stopped paying rent. Davis said he did not turn the power and water off. The man bought a campervan to live in and began organising the move of his belongings. But on 18 December Davis screwed the garage door shut, preventing access to the unit. He said he locked the man out because he and others threatened to hurt him and damage the unit. The police were called and officers helped the man to get access. He collected his pet and some essentials. It was negotiated that the man could return the following day to collect the rest of his things. He told the tribunal that he had about an hour-and-a-half to enter and chose the most useful belongings to put into his car and trailer. The rest was left behind. He claimed Davis then put some of his belongings outside, where they were ruined, and refused to return what was left inside. He claimed he lost between $10,000 and $15,000 of belongings, including appliances, computer gear, some furniture, clothing toys, and sports gear. Davis told the tribunal that the man left behind a mess and removed everything of value. What was left outside and in the storage unit was rubbish, Davis claimed. He has not allowed the man access since. Following the hearing, which both parties attended, the tribunal found largely in favour of the man. It found the storage unit was not lawfully consented for residential use and therefore the tenancy was unlawful. The decision stated that in the event of such a finding, the tribunal can order the landlord to repay the tenant all the rent they paid, or a lesser amount in special circumstances. Davis was ordered to refund $3500 of the man's rent. That amount weighed the "detriment to the tenant in terms of discomfort and amenity", and "the need to discourage landlords from renting premises that cannot lawfully be occupied for residential purposes". When considering whether Davis ended the tenancy without grounds, the tribunal was more persuaded by the man's evidence. It ruled it was ended by Davis telling the man to leave, then denying him access, which was unlawful and resulted in an order for Davis to pay exemplary damages of $3250. The tribunal also found that Davis seized the man's belongings, leading to a damages order of $1000. The man failed to prove the claim for the list of belongings he said were lost, with the tribunal finding that, logically, the man would take the most valuable items first when given a limited time to pack, and there was no way of proving what was left behind. However, Davis was still ordered to pay $2000 in compensation for stress, inconvenience, and the likely loss of household items. The tribunal dismissed the claim that Davis had interfered with the man's services, relating to the power and water allegation, as well as claims Davis had entered the unit without consent or notice, and another of a breach of quiet enjoyment. Davis' counterclaims were also dismissed with the decision noting that when the tribunal finds unlawful premises, it can not order the tenant to pay rent arrears or compensation, unless there are special circumstances, which there were not. He has been ordered to pay the man a total of $9777, which includes a filing fee. * This story originally appeared in the [ link here New Zealand Herald].
Zawya
03-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Egypt: SCZONE inaugurates Beltone Leasing, Factoring branch at Sokhna headquarters
Egypt - The General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has officially inaugurated a new branch of Beltone Leasing and Factoring at its headquarters in the Sokhna Industrial Zone. The ceremony was attended by Ahmed Saad, CEO of SCZONE, and Amir Ghannam, Deputy Head of Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) for Leasing, Factoring, and Consumer Finance. Beltone Leasing and Factoring, a wholly owned subsidiary of Beltone Holding, received approval from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to establish operations at SCZONE, making it the first non-banking financial institution to do so. This strategic move underscores the growing role of SCZONE as a hub for industrial investment, international trade, and regional logistics. Waleid Gamal El-Dien, Chairperson of SCZONE, described the inauguration as a significant step toward enhancing the zone's investment environment. 'The opening of Beltone Leasing and Factoring's branch within our Sokhna headquarters marks a qualitative leap in providing specialized financial services that facilitate effective financing and investment solutions,' he said. 'It supports our broader strategy to build an integrated financial infrastructure that meets the expanding needs of industrial and logistics activities. SCZONE remains committed to attracting leading financial institutions to its industrial zones to reinforce a dynamic and supportive investment climate.' Amir Ghannam emphasized the broader economic impact of the new branch, noting: 'This step opens new avenues for financing industrial projects and supporting strategic export activities, thereby contributing to national economic development goals.' The launch of Beltone Leasing and Factoring's Sokhna branch is aligned with SCZONE's ongoing efforts to strengthen its service ecosystem for investors. These include the implementation of a one-stop-shop service, the digital transformation of investor services, and the presence of banking institutions and integrated logistical and industrial support. Together, these initiatives aim to streamline procedures, enhance operational efficiency, and align SCZONE's services with international best practices in investment facilitation.
