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Satwa villa occupants get eviction notice

The occupants have been informed that the old homes will be razed and will have to move out by the end of June.

Dubai — Families and bachelors living in several old villas located in Satwa behind the skyscrapers on Shaikh Zayed Road have been given eviction notice by the Dubai Land Department.

The occupants have been informed that the old homes will be razed and they will have to move out by the end of June. If not, they will face prosecution and disconnection of power and water supply, the affected residents told Khaleej Times.

Some of them, who hold Emirati passports and have proper documents to prove their ownership of the land and house, have been apparently told they will be offered new homes or ample compensation while others are clueless where to go, the residents said.

According to the people in the neighbourhood of the Qadri Masjid, some 50 to 100 villas in the area behind Crowne Plaza and Shangri La hotels will be affected. It is not clear what project will come up in the area. No immediate response was available from the land department.

A resident, who was served with an eviction notice issued on March 22, said the notice has caused panic among the residents. Farhan Hassan Al Jasmi said several families and bachelors living in the villas will be affected.

“My parents who used to live in Shindagha earlier moved to this home in 1971. I was born in this house. Now my mother and we 12 siblings are living here,” said Al Jasmi, who supports his family with a salary of Dh4,000.

He said he is a Bedouin but holds a Comorian passport. “I don’t know if I will get any compensation or another home. I heard they are giving Dh300,000 to Dh500,000 as compensation. What will people do with that? How can we get a house with that much money in Dubai?”

Ali Hussain, another resident, raised similar concerns. “Yesterday, my big brother had gone to the government (Land Department) office in Deira. They have asked for his passport and other documents and took our numbers. But, we don’t know when they will call back and if they will help us.”

Hussain said his family holds Emirati passports and hopes to get compensated with another house itself. “Our parents are no more. We four brothers and two sisters are living here. One of my brothers is wheelchair-bound after an accident. We hope we will be shifted to a new home.”

His neighbour Abdullah Sherifi from Iran said: “We don’t know what is going to happen to us. Where will we go?”

The residents said they are looking forward to meeting officials of the Land Department to raise their concerns.— sajila@khaleejtimes.com