• Home
• /
• UAE

The real story behind crowded buildings in Abu Dhabi

As the Abu Dhabi Municipality steps up campaign against packed accommodation units, Khaleej Times investigates how the underbelly of the realty industry operates

Certain crowded buildings in Abu Dhabi may be mistaken for a small township, complete with grocery shops, vegetable sellers and even fish vendors inside. Khaleej Times can reveal that at least three buildings in the city were dens for buying liquor, paan (betel leaves with areca nut and tobacco) and Niswar (powdered tobacco snuff). Two of these buildings — located behind Hamdan street and Najda street — have been demolished, while the third on Zayed the Second street is now being demolished.

Crowded buildings are becoming a pressing issue in the city of Abu Dhabi, its suburbs and remote areas, even as the municipal departments continue with their campaign against them.

According to a random survey conducted by KT, more than 3,000 bachelors are evicted from crowded buildings and villas almost every month. Most of them are moving to other overcrowded units in suburban and remote areas.

KT’s survey revealed that over 100 buildings in the city and its suburbs are overcrowded and unhygienic.

Most of the bachelor accommodation units are partitioned and altered to fit in the maximum number of people, in contravention of the prevailing laws of the emirate.

Under municipality regulations, it is illegal to alter any building apartment or villa without its permission, and only three people can occupy a single bedroom. The hall or the sitting room is not to be used as a bedroom.

Realty mafia

In the Capital city, most of the overcrowded buildings are concentrated around Shaikh Hamdan street and Zayed the Second street, the heart of the commercial city centre of the emirate. Other such buildings are located in Khalidiyah, Al Falah street and Defence road.

According to KT’s investigation, most old, overcrowded buildings are controlled by a realty mafia. The mafia’s members are constantly on the hunt for old buildings and take control of their management from landlords unable to manage them due to other commitments.

Once they acquire a building in this way, they partition apartments and try to squeeze in as many tenants as possible. A typical bed space in such apartments cost Dh500 to Dh800 per month. A single bedroom is occupied by an average of eight people, and from this single room, the mafia makes anywhere between Dh4,000 to Dh6,400 per month.

“It is a big, big business. We are talking about millions of dirhams in turnover per month. I know (for a fact that) some of these people made fortunes out of this business and are now running chains of supermarkets in the UAE and other GCC countries, and have factories and other properties back home,” said A.R.S., a source who used to work for a realty broker and managed about six bachelor buildings in the Capital city.

“The figures are huge. We are talking about a room with eight people each paying Dh500 a month. Just imagine what will be money these brokers make from an entire bachelor colony.”

He said brokers have small licensed maintenance company offices and look for old buildings that are lined up for demolition. They take these buildings over from landlords who live in remote areas.

Bachelors left in lurch

Evicted bachelors are struggling to find alternative shelters. They are urging the government to come up with a law to control spiralling rents and keep dubious brokers at bay.

“Property owners and brokers are taking advantage of the absence of a law that governs the real estate industry in the emirate. My salary is about Dh3,000, so I have no option but to share a bedroom with several people,” said Mohammed Anis from India.

M. Noor, a Pakistani resident of Freej Al Sayegh located between Hamdan street and Zayed the Second street, said: “For the last five years, I have changed four apartments for varying reasons from brokers increasing the rents to eviction by the municipality. With low salaries and high rents, it is difficult to live in an apartment as per the municipality’s regulation — three in one bedroom.”

Another resident, Sakhi Dost Baloch, said he has achieved the title of the proverbial ‘Cat of Seven Homes’. “In our culture, we have a saying that refers to a cat moving between at least seven houses in the neighborhood for the safety of its newborn kittens. For the last eight years, I have changed seven apartments and achieved the title.”

Omar Hazrat, a Pakistani labourer, said he resides in an apartment provided by his company and shares a room with five other workers. “Though we have free accommodation provided by our company, there is always fear that we might be evicted because we live in an overcrowded building. I have seen many such buildings being inspected by the municipality and people being evicted.”

S. Hassan and M. Anwar, two friends from India, said they were also forced to move from one building to another over the last 15 years. “Now we are residing in an accommodation provided by our company and feel safer,” said Anwar.

Municipality intensifies fight

The Abu Dhabi Municipality and its municipal departments are determined to see through its fight against overcrowded and filthy buildings. According to the civic body, such buildings pose huge health risks for residents as they are infested with rodents and pests.

Recently, the municipality stepped up its campaign in the outskirts of the city — Musaffah, Al Wathbah and Baniyas, where more than 2,000 bachelors were evicted from overcrowded buildings.

According to Jassim Mohammed Al Hammadi, Manager of the Musaffah Municipal Centre, the overcrowded buildings issue is a big one and has to be addressed.

“We have taken the fight against overcrowded buildings in our jurisdiction of Musaffah and are determined to address this issue. We will not tolerate those flouting the Abu Dhabi Municipal Affairs regulations,” he said.

He said the campaign targets congested and unhygienic residential units and is aided by a well-organised implementation plan.

“The campaign is intended to realise a number of objectives such as curbing congested residential units; freeing the city and its neighbourhoods from accommodation units of company workers and bachelors; removing all types of squatter settlements at communal houses and villas; and getting rid of company accommodation units in residential neighbourhoods,” said Al Hammadi.

He said over the past two months, the municipality issued 238 fines for offences related to public hygiene in Musaffah.

Those working inside the city find it difficult to move to Musaffah’s Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD) areas, where private and government establishments can take apartments for their workers on lease.

“I see no light in the tunnel. I work in Madinat Zayed commercial area and have to wake up early in the morning to run the café I work for. If you send me to Musaffah, Wathbah or Baniyas, I will definitely lose my job,” said Moyiuddin, who works for Khalfan Café.

nissar@khaleejtimes.com