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Robberies in malls raise security concerns among the tenants

DUBAI — The robberies at the two outlets of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons Jewellery at BurJuman Centre and Wafi City malls in Dubai early on Friday morning have raised concerns and insecurity among a number of tenants who hope the managements pull up their socks and provide better security arrangements against the high rentals charged. The tenants allegedly blamed the mall management, stating that the responsibility for the incident completely rests on them and that they should act more effectively to create a good security system. “We pay such high rents. At least we expect the management to provide us a secure environment,” they said.

Tenants also feel that insurance companies will not offer insurance covers to outlets unless they ensure that the security measures are in place. The value of insurance depends on the location, the capital invested, and other factors. Many people, interviewed by Khaleej Times, said if a shop faces a robbery case, the insurance companies may hike the insurance premium which the outlets will be forced to bear. The mall management will not come to our rescue and pitch in to pay part of the premium amount, they complained.

Lieutenant-General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, who confirmed that the shopping malls reported two robbery cases, said that the police is still investigating the thefts and are in the process of identifying the suspects.

It was learnt that the BurJuman outlet was completely looted while the Wafi shop was partially robbed. There are also rumours that an Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons Jewellery outlet in Athens was also robbed at the same time when the two Dubai shops were attacked. However, the reports have not been confirmed by any security officer.

Meanwhile, an official from Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons Jewellery told Khaleej Times that they have not yet specified the amount of the losses, but said that a meeting would take place today to assess the situation.

A number of shop owners at the Burjuman Centre, perturbed over the theft at Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons Jewellery, blamed the mall management for security lapses. “The management should do something more creative for the security of the mall,” they said. Fadi Ibrahimian, Manager of Zoppini in BurJuman said: “It was shocking news for me. We have expensive things in the shop and I do not feel secure in this place anymore.” Under the circumstances, where the mall management claims to provide 24-hour security, it should have been impossible for someone to steal from any of the outlets in the mall. “There are security guards, a security alarm system, and a closed circuit camera. If something happens, the security is alerted within minutes. So how could somebody steal from here? Something is fishy and the management of the mall should take some measures not to repeat it,” Ibrahimian pointed out.

Suha, Store Manager of Bin Hendi Jewellery in BurJuman said: “I felt very safe in Dubai. But incidents such as this are shocking. If it happened at a streetside shop, I can understand. But I fail to know how a theft can happen in a mall where all the security systems are supposedly operational.” She also voiced concern about something seriously wrong with the security system itself at BurJuman. The management should do something to tighten the security, she hoped. “At present, we feel insecure. It is a risk to run a business if things like this happen. This incident has created a feeling in most of us here at the mall that we are not secure anymore,” said Suha.

Bhandari, Shop Manager of Al Liali Jewellery, expressed similar sentiments. “This incident has proved that the so-called security system at the mall is a myth.” He disclosed that the shop has its own security system and now, after the robbery incident they are going to tighten it further.

Earlier, Khamis Al Mazina, Director-General of Department of Criminal Investigation, blamed the security companies which provide security guards to malls and other outlets for appointing untrained security professionals and lack knowledge of security measures to be taken in case of emergency. The security professionals should have good communication skills to communicate to colleagues or to the Dubai Police about any such theft cases. He said that there are specialised security companies in UAE, which can offer good staff.

Meanwhile, some of the jewellery shop owners at Wafi City, who spoke to Khaleej Times on condition of anonymity, said they were shocked to learn of the burglary that transpired at Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons on Friday, but they remained confident of their own shops’ security system. A store manager said their store is highly-secured and that they take their items off the shelf after mall hours, keeping them secure in a safe. Likewise, they have a security device, which goes off and correspondingly alerts the Dubai Police if it detects a person inside their shop after 10 in the evening.

Another shop manager said that: “What happened to Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons is both shocking and strange in the sense that it happened to two branches of the same store on the same day.” She added that the Wafi City mall administrators should intensify the mall’s security system, especially inside the mall after shopping hours. She claimed that after midnight, most security personnel of the mall are stationed outside the mall.

An official of Tiffany Jewellers in Wafi City agreed that the Dubai Police is exerting more efforts and their patrols can respond within three minutes, but at such prominent shopping malls, we need more security measures. The number of security officials in most of the malls are not enough and most of them are not well-trained. He said that the security officials in malls are working for 12 hours and are not well paid. Their salaries are between Dh800 and Dh1,500 which is not encouraging enough for them to put their lives at risk to foil a robbery attempt even if they see it. They have no risk allowance and there is no insurance cover for them.

“The security officials are not authorised to use arms to intervene in emergency cases,” he said, urging the security companies concerned to increase their salaries due to their important role and recommended that some of them should be armed to deal in certain emergency cases, because if they wait for the police to come, armed criminals can escape easily.

An official at Damas Jewellery shop in Wafi City focused on the importance of establishing police officers in the big shopping malls, such as in the Dubai City Centre and in Marina Malls in Abu Dhabi. He said some of the criminals can even rob during daytime and the traffic in the city can prohibit the police patrol from reaching the spot immediately in time to arrest the thieves. The existence of police at malls will protect people and their properties, adding that the police should pay special attention to jewellery sectors.

An official at a jewellery shop in Wafi City said that: “Earlier, our shop was located in Gold Market on Bani Yas Road and we used to see more police patrols. When we moved to the shopping mall, we thought that it is more secure, but after the recent robbery, we are scared. We want the Dubai Police to take more intensive security measures in such places and have full supervision in security companies.”

An executive of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons refused to discuss matters of the incident to the media while administrators of Wafi City cannot be reached for comment. However, Issa Adam, Director of BurJuman Centre told Khaleej Times: “Security measures in most of the Dubai malls are good, although the quality of security professionals and safety measures may not be similar in all shopping malls.”

He stated that security measures should be reviewed periodically to adapt to the latest changes witnessed worldwide and to combat the advanced techniques used by criminals. He confirmed that most Dubai malls are monitored and linked to the Operational Room of Dubai Police and that the Dubai Police organises training courses for all security officials in Dubai. Issa disclosed that the last training course provided by the Dubai Police to the BurJuman security staff was five months ago, adding that the BurJman Centre has enough security personnel who are well-trained about safety and fire-fighting measures Issa, however, refused to comment on the robbery, because the police was still investigating the theft.