Abu Dhabi tenants learn lesson for flouting law

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Abu Dhabi tenants learn lesson for flouting law

Over 1,000 evicted for turning 2-bedroom flats into colonies

by

Nissar Hoath

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Published: Wed 28 May 2014, 10:44 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 8:45 PM

Evicted tenants and their belongings outside the building on Electra Street in Abu Dhabi. — KT photos by Syed Hameeduddin Quadri

The usually bustling Electra Street at the heart of the Capital wore a look of gloom, despondency and chaos as belongings lay strewn on the pavements and their owners frantically scoured the neighbourhood for alternative accommodation after over 1,000 bachelors were evicted from their apartments.

The men said they were unaware of the eviction notice till it was too late to find a new place and were stunned to have municipality and court officials descend on them on Monday, asking them to leave.

However, the owner’s representative told Khaleej Times that the eviction notice had been put up at the main entrance and on every apartment door three weeks before the eviction.

The building, according to both tenants and the owner, was in dispute for several years but finally, the court issued a ruling in the owner’s favour.

“We were involved in a case over the management of this building,” said the representative of the owner, who did not want to be named. “Another party had leased the building and had crammed it with people to get more money.”

The representative said the Bangladeshi who had taken the building on lease rented out rooms to men, charging Dh2,500 to Dh3,000 per room. Each two-bedroom apartment had 20 to 30 occupants. The halls in the apartments were also treated as bedrooms and rented out to other people.

Abu Dhabi Municipality regulations allow only three tenants in a single room while halls can’t be used as bedrooms.

The nine-storey building has a three-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments on each floor.

“The lessee had turned the building into a village with far more tenants than the building was designed for,” the representative added.

A municipality official supervising the eviction told Khaleej Times they evicted the tenants following the court order.

“Three people per room in an apartment is the rule to be abided by,” the official said. “We keep on checking such buildings to make sure they are not overcrowded and the laws are being followed.”

He said real estate agents hunt out old buildings and turn them into bachelor colonies, renting out each room to eight or 10 people.

“This not only damages the image of the Capital but could also be a public health risk,” he added.

The evicted men complained that some of their belongings were stolen from the pavements.

Nazir Ahmed, a tenant sharing a room with six others on the third floor, said he and his room mates were not given enough time to shift their belongings and had to leave them on the pavement while searching for another shelter.

“My room mates and I had our belongings dumped in front of the building. We went out to contact friends for a new place and when I returned, our fridge was missing,” Ahmed said.

He also alleged that they were given just a day’s notice, leaving them with little time to find alternate accommodation.

However, another affected tenant, Amin Hossain, said soon after the notices were put up, they were removed by the two watchmen employed by the Bangladeshi. He alleged the notices were removed to make the tenants pay the month’s rent before they were evicted.

He said one of the watchmen has been arrested for this while the other is absconding.

Hossain also complained that their belongings, including a gas cylinder, were stolen from outside the building.

While a few lucky men have found bed spaces with friends, many are still hunting for a new place.

“We don’t blame the owner, the court or the municipality,” Mozaffar Ahmed, another tenant, said. “We are suffering today because of the middleman and because we ourselves flouted civic regulations.”

nissar@khaleejtimes.com


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