Umm Al Quwain resort shut over Sulphur well claim

The owner had not renewed the licence of his resort since April and had illegally dug water wells.

The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Umm Al Quwain has ordered the closure of the 'Bado Land' resort, the biggest heritage village in the UAE, because of the "sulphur water well" rumour that the authorities have called "baseless and fake".
The owner of the village had posted a video of the purported 'sulphur water' on social media, inviting customers to come to the resort to check it out. He claimed that the green-coloured water coming from a well in his village "proved to be sulphur water as per lab tests and can heal bone and arthritis pains".
A number of wells were found to have been illegally dug in the area, and the village was then shut down due to the rumour that had gone viral online, among other business issues.
"The village was permanently closed down because the owner proved to have misled and cheated the public by posting fake and baseless information about sulphur water discovered in his resort," said Mansur Sultan Al Kharji, director-general of the DED. 
Al Kharji said they filled up and closed down seven unlicensed water wells at the heritage village on the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road.
The owner had not renewed the licence of his resort since April and had illegally dug water wells, he added.
"Sulphur water has a specific colour and odour and can be confirmed only by authorised labs. The discovered water, however, is contaminated and is not fit for human use or consumption," Al Kharji said.
The Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) Municipality had earlier denied the "baseless" claims in the video. "All the information and details included in the video clip are baseless and incorrect," said Ubaid Sultan Twairish, acting director-general of the UAQ municipality.
The owner of the video shall be fully held responsible for posting and sharing the video on social media, he warned.
"Hefty fines shall be slapped on whoever digs a water well as per the underground water law and the public health and environment law," he said.
Twairish urged the public to refrain from posting or sharing such rumours on social media or via any other means of communication.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• Umm Al Quwain