The construction boom in the area, coupled with an absence of even basic urban planning, has contributed to the crisis faced by residents.

Al Nahda residents complain of lack of proper roads leading to the mushrooming residential blocks in the area. While the rents continue to rise every year, perhaps the most expensive location today in Sharjah, the local authorities refuse to look into improving the basic infrastructure such as providing proper roads, setting up public telephone booths, a post office, health clinic among others, residents complained.

Stagnant water accumulated on open plots of land in the area is a very common sight, as well as the overflow of the sewerage septic pits that are constructed underneath most of the buildings. Construction sites, which surround most of the residential buildings, have also become a source of disturbance and inconvenience for residents of the area.

Several residents complain of the stench in the area caused due to movement of sewage tanks, which are still being used by several buildings to dispose their sewage. They claim that underground sewage pipes to dispose sewage are still not connected to several buildings built over two or three years ago.

Khaleej Times spotlights the lack of basic facilities in Al Nahda Area and raises the issue of providing appropriate services to Al Nahda residents, who spoke about the importance of developing the infrastructure and services in Al Nahda, as well as keeping pace with the construction boom and the increasing volume of residents.

Shyam Sunder, an Al Nahda resident, believes that with new buildings coming up in the vicinity, flow of heavy vehicles on the roads will only increase and add to further deterioration of the road infrastructure.

“As it is, we have no proper inroads to buildings and the kuchha road is damaging for the car tyres,” he pointed out, urging the authorities to speed up the development of the area.

A resident of Al Nahda for over five years, Sunder believes that the progress in the area is very slow.

Another resident, Inayat Khan, noted there is lack of planning by the local authorities for granting permission for new building construction in the area.

“We have new buildings coming up very close to the existing buildings resulting in no privacy to the residents. We pay such steep rents, Dh50, 000, for a three-bedroom apartment, and we cannot have our privacy,” he said, adding, “With the new building coming up adjacent to mine, we will have no privacy and people will be able to see into each others homes.”

Naser Alawi who has been a resident of Al Nahda for three years and a victim of increasing rents (already paid hiked rents for two successive years) despite the existing rules of the Rent Committee to pay rent hike only on completion of three years, complained that his car tyres need to be changed every year because of the increasing wear and tear caused on the kuchha roads leading to his building.

Another problem faced, he said, was the repulsive sight of construction wastes in the area, which continue to lie in open areas adjoining the residential buildings resulting in both environment pollution and posing health hazards to the residents.

A family which moved to Al Nahda recently heaved a sigh of relief on the completion of the only public park currently in the area, but expressed concern on its location surrounded by a busy road network posing high accident risks to the public.

“And with the new flyover being constructed in Al Nahda, traffic flow into the area will increase considerably posing further accident risks to children crossing over the busy roads to reach the park,” the family noted.

Construction sites are surrounding the occupied residential buildings and works have become a constant source of disturbance and inconvenience to the residents of the nearby buildings.

“The distance between the buildings being constructed and the existing buildings are very narrow. Just few metres separate the new buildings and the old ones. I have been suffering from constant headache since the start of these works. I’m sleeping less and no more enjoying an afternoon nap,” Zaher Kolaib, another resident, said.

“The noise of trucks, drills, workers, and cranes, keep going on all the night. They are driving me crazy. No privacy any more. I’m seriously considering leaving my apartment,” he explained.

Construction sites are blocking the routes to several buildings.

Mamdouh Azeem, another resident, said that works at four construction sites have started in the same period.

“Workers at each site have installed wooden barricades and blocked other routes so that only trucks and bulldozers would use these tracks. Now residents are not allowed to use these routes,” he noted.

“Trucks and big vehicles are also travelling on the tracks which are being used by the residents. This has created new fears for all of us. The area has become a real danger with such huge vehicles traveling on these small tracks all the time. Now, our children are in danger and most of the residents’ cars, which are parked along these tracks, are often hit or scratched because of the constant activity on these roads,” he pointed out.

According to certain insurance agents, owners of vehicles damaged while parked in open grounds are not even able to claim insurance, owing to the fact that the police wouldn’t register such a case and issue an official statement, which is a must for processing insurance claims.

“The roads leading to my building, are in fact dirt tracks,” Mustafa A., another resident, said. “They are unpaved routes and a source of dirt all the time. When I moved to live here about three years ago, I was told by the landlord that roads connecting the main routes with the residential buildings in Al Nahda, would be paved in the next year. He claimed that the municipality would offer various facilities to residents of Al Nahda. Three years have passed and the basic facilities are not yet provided. Their promises have not been fulfilled and I won’t renew my contract again. I’m moving to Dubai, living in Sharjah is no more convenient,” Mustafa added.

Most of the buildings being constructed in Al Nahda are large units that accommodate a big volume of residents. “More residents mean more cars. Although the equation is simple, parking lots are not available. It seems that no proper planning had been put in place,” said Jamil, an engineer who had moved to live in Al Nahda one year ago.

“Apart from Al Nahda Towers, which are opposite to Sahara Shopping Mall, most of the buildings that are currently under construction, do not have parking basements. This also applies on buildings, which were constructed five, or six years back. The issue would develop into a big problem in the future and I call on the municipal body and the planning authority to work on providing some decent parking areas to residents of Al Nahda. In the end they are paying high rents and should benefit from such basic facilities as other residents in the emirate,” Mustafa noted.

The volume of residents is increasing and more cars are occupying the wide spaces around the buildings in Al Nahda. “In my building, there are more than 150 apartments which are fully occupied. If half of the residents own cars, then there would be about 70 cars parked around the building. In fact the figure is much bigger,” Rami Ballani, an employee at a tourism company, said.

In the evenings, the scene of cars parked around the buildings in Al Nahda is unusual. Ballani noted that spaces are very tight because of the construction sites and the big trucks.

“The area around my building becomes so jammed with cars parked randomly. Some cars block the way of other vehicles. This has caused several disputes and fights between residents,” he said.

“To avoid trouble, I always park my car far away from my residence or any other building. But I am suffering from the five-minute walk on the unpaved and dirty roads to reach my apartment. More residents are occupying the new buildings and they all own cars. Their vehicles are now blocking some of the unpaved roads which connect my buildings with the main road,” Al Ballani noted.

Besides, stagnant water accumulating on open plots of land in the area is a very common sight, residents complained wondering whether the stagnant water is sewage water or water pumped in for construction work.

“Whatever it may be, stagnant water is always a breeding ground for mosquitoes and insects, posing health risk to the neighbourhood,” residents said and complained that these ponds have been covering wide areas around the buildings, thus worsening the situation and creating more congestion because of the residents’ vehicles.

With the absence of a comprehensive sewerage network in Al Nahda and the foul odours emanating from most of the buildings located in the area, the presence of sewerage trucks at the entrances of these buildings has become a regular sight.

This fact has led to serious sewerage problems with the increase of population especially that most of the buildings are not linked to any sewerage network.

The sewerage septic pits, constructed beneath most of the buildings, overflow every two days leading to strong foul odours at the entrances of buildings.

“The strong odour at the entrance of my building is horrible, it is unhealthy and could lead to serious respiratory problems. In the past, sewerage trucks used to come every week, but nowadays they come to the building on daily basis,” Bassil B., a shop manager, said.

“Suction trucks are not the perfect solution to the problem especially that these pits keep overflowing everyday. The municipality should take serious action and alleviate the suffering of the residents in this area,” Bassil, who has been living in Al Nahda for five years, pointed out.

Nizar A., an employee at a public relations company, called upon authorities concerned and Sharjah Municipality to chalk out a comprehensive infrastructure plan for solving the sewerage problem and constructing a proper road network in the area.

“Sewerage liquids overflow at the entrance of my building creating dirty swamps at the area where most of the cars are parked. This has been happening on regular basis and sewerage trucks usually handle these overflows. The problem is much more complicated to be solved by sewerage trucks,” he pointed out.