Construction of The Palm is right on schedule despite the challenging deadline which developers have set for its completion.

The project, which was announced in May last year and involves the creation of the world's two largest man-made islands, is progressing rapidly with one-third of the foundation already built for the first island off the Jumeirah coast.

This first phase of construction, reclamation, involves sand transfer and rock placement to create the land foundations.

An estimated 100 million cubic metres of sand and rock from the UAE will be put in place by the December 2003 deadline. The full completion of the first island - primarily a residential area - is expected by the end of 2005.

Reclamation on the second island, which will be known as The Palm, Jebel Ali and positioned as the ultimate entertainment destination in the Middle East, has already begun and full completion is expected by the end of 2006.

"Reclamation is the most important and complex phase in the whole project, because it involves the actual creation of the islands themselves, but we have the necessary expertise to take up the challenge," said Saif Sultan Al Shamsi, commercial managing director, The Palm.

The huge amount of sand that has been dredged already to create the palm tree shape of the island off Jumeirah is beginning to be clearly visible in satellite photos taken of the area.

Even more visible is the barrier reef created from the rock placement process to form the crescent-shaped breakwater around the palmtree shape.

Upon completion of the reclamation process, the project will enter the second phase which involves the building of the infrastructure and services.

This will be followed by the final stage where homes, townhouses and apartments are constructed.

A similar process will follow for the second island, The Palm, Jebel Ali.