THE ORIGINAL GATEWAY TO ABU DHABI HAS BECOME A PRIME DESTINATION
▶ Al Maqta is at the centre of two bridges connecting the emirate and has come into its own, writes Haneen Dajani
Al Maqta has long been regarded as Abu Dhabi’s gateway – a key driver for ambitious efforts to connect a rapidly developing emirate to the world.
Strategically positioned between the landmark Maqta Bridge, which opened in 1968, and the Mussaffah Bridge, which was built a decade later, one could easily think of it as a place to pass through, rather than a destination.
But Al Maqta has successfully bridged the gap between the emirates’s past, the flourishing present and the promising future.
It is now home to a chain of glittering hotels, including the Shangri-La and Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, a variety of shops and leisure facilities and a host of government organisations, while the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque provides an impressive backdrop.
It is a thriving centre of activity, not just a crossing point, and a place to stay rather than see in a flash from your car as you drive by.
Zabna Amer moved to the area with her family in 1998 and has witnessed first-hand two decades of remarkable development.
“When we moved there weren’t that many services and to do grocery shopping we had to go to Abu Dhabi downtown,” says the employee relations manager, 34.
Zabna points to a line of tailors, cafeterias and small grocery shops that stretch along Al Maqta’s main street.
“Only tailors’ shops and cafeterias were there,” she says. “There was also a clinic in a villa. We were well-acquainted with the doctors there. My mother used to send them iftar meals every Ramadan.”
The clinic was replaced a few years ago with Al Maqta Healthcare Centre.
Zabna’s home is one of the earliest houses built in the area and her family is steeped in Al Maqta’s traditions.
Despite the rise of hotels, shopping avenues and business districts, there is still a vibrant sense of community here.
Ms Amer’s mother, Museda Amer, said she made many friends at the mosque behind their house, where she learnt the Quran. “We got to know the neighbours from the mosque,” says Museda, 69. “When we first moved to the neighbourhood, I tried to introduce myself to the neighbours in vain. I knocked on their doors but nobody was home.”
Once she started attending classes at the mosque, however, she befriended most of the women there.
“We became friends and starting visiting each other’s homes and sending food to one another,” Museda says. “And Umm Khamis, a neighbour, wakes me up every morning for fajr prayers.”
Her son Naser, 33, remembers a time when life was “more simple”.
“I was about 10 when we moved,” Naser says. “I used to play football with the neighbours’ kids barefoot outside the house, and when we became teenagers we used to go to where the Abu Dhabi Co-op is now.
“There used to be a small arcade with just two or three games and a billiard table. Where the family public park is now, there used to be a dark sandy area. I used to go there with the guys at night and start bonfires.”
While he feels nostalgic for the neighbourhood’s early years, he says it has evolved for the better. He now lives in his family home with his wife and three children.
“Now when the children want to practise football they go to a proper field and when the younger ones want to play we take them to Junior Gym,” Naser says.
He says some of his friends aimed to become athletes but neglected their studies and ended up “getting lost”.
“Now there are proper clubs that teach young people to maintain a balance between hobbies and studies,” Naser says.
The neighbourhood’s public park includes a football field where many boys and young men come together in the spirit of fun and competition. Mohammed Ismail, 18, a pupil from Sudan, is one of the regular players regularly pitching up for action.
“I’ve been playing football since I was a child,” Mohammed says. “We used to play outside, two streets away from here.
“But since the park reopened three years ago and they added the field, we started playing matches here. Having this field helped me develop my football skills.”
A few metres from the field children play on slides and swings, groups of women sit on the grass for a picnic, while men cook on barbecues.
“I bring my daughters here on a weekly basis,” says Jordanian Ashraf Moussa, 34, while helping his daughters, aged two and three, on the swings.
“We live in Mussaffah so it is close by, and we like it here because they have good recreation and it is all families.”
Naser feels nostalgic for the neighbourhood’s early years, but says it has evolved for the better