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Fire forces Emirati family to spend two nights in the open

AJMAN - Twenty-one members of an Emirati joint family had to spend two nights in cars and in the open courtyard during the recent rains after a fire destroyed parts of the house in Al Manama area of Ajman.

Mohammad Ali, one of the six brothers who was staying in the house inherited from their late father, told Khaleej Times that the fire, sparked by a short circuit, on January 13 destroyed the furniture in his room and damaged the other rooms, he added.

The Ajman police sealed all the six rooms until they could get an expert from the Dubai Police to prepare a report on the matter.

The expert came only a week later, Ali said.

The family, including women and children, had a tough time tackling the cold and the rains. On the first two days, women slept in cars while the men slept in the courtyard of the house, he said.

They later moved to a relative’s house. ‘We approached the local office of the municipality requesting them for help in renovating the house but we did not get any response. Our search for an alternative house to stay also proved futile. We reported the matter to the Zayed Housing Programme, but got no response from there as well,’ Ali said.

After the expert’s visit, the police finally allowed them to stay in the damaged rooms. ‘However, the power and water supplies were repeatedly disconnected. We had to spend nights under candlelight,’ he said.

Disheartened by the apathy shown by the local municipality office, Ali finally approached the office of Shaikh Rashid bin Hameed Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, six days ago.

‘I narrated my ordeal to him. He immediately ordered the renovation of the house at his own expense. He also instructed the officials to rent a house to us till our house was repaired,’ Ali said. The next day, the family moved into the new house.

Ali now hopes they would get a house in Zayed Housing project to get his ordeal resolved.‘

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