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Villa Tenants See No Respite as
Oct 21 Deadline Nears

DUBAI — As the deadline for landlords to discontinue sharing of villas draws near, any chances of respite for the thousands of families and ‘singles’ seem dim.

The landlords have also been asked to remove all unauthorised partitions in their villas before the October 21 deadline. If the necessary changes are not carried out in the villas, the owners would risk a fine of up to Dh50,000.

Many landlords said that such directions were a common affair and there was nothing to worry about. But the tenants certainly are a worried lot.

“We know that the deadline is nearing. But then for moving, we first need to find a place. I earn just Dh2,500 a month and cannot afford to rent out a flat. In Dubai, the rent for a studio apartment is nothing less than Dh65,000. Till now, our landlord has not approached us, but we are living in fear. They can come to us any time and ask us to vacate. Under such a situation, where do we go?” said Shabadullah, who lives in a villa in the Abu Hail area.

“The authorities have evicted many families from a large number of villas in Rashidiya. They have also served notices to people sharing villas in the posh Jumeirah area. This shows that the civic body is serious. I am now forced to look for some accommodation in Sharjah knowing that the traffic will be hassle. But there is no option,” said another villa resident who requested anonymity. Many people have requested the municipality to either reconsider their decision or provide cheap housing facilities.

The municipality has maintained that hygiene and safety were the primary concerns and that action was necessary in order to avoid accidents. “Only recently, a fire in a villa located in the Naif area killed 11 people. That was also a shared villa with many violations. The municipality needs to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. Whatever we are doing is for the safety of the people,” said a municipality official in an earlier talk.