A feud between 13 families and their landlord over the safety of their building has dragged the Ajman Municipality into the dispute. A municipal investigation team has given an initial assessment that a four-storey building is unsafe and lacks basic safety measures.
Hamad bin Sanad bin Abdul Aziz, assistant director general of Administration and Finance Affairs of Ajman Municipality, said: "Our concern is now whether the building is safe for the residents."
He said a team has been assigned from the municipality to investigate the issue. The initial assessment has shown the building lacks basic safety measures. He said steps will be taken accordingly whether it should be demolished or ask the landlord to refurbish it.
The owner, a GCC expatriate, had bought the building from a UAE national for Dh3 million in June and wants to refurbish it. According to the landlord's representative, the tenants were given a month's notice to vacate the building by September 15. The landlord is at present outside the UAE.
Bassam Al Nuaimi, legal adviser at Ajman Municipality, said it will not be able to do anything unless the tenancy contract is first authorised. "The main concern now is about the the safety of the building. This dispute can only be looked at once we get the final report on the building."
The landlord's representative says a real estate office that brokered the purchase of the building, collected the rent from tenants, many of whom did not sign any tenancy agreement. The tenants say they need time to relocate.
The landlord's representative, meanwhile, has threatened to cut off power and water connections, say the tenants. Al Nuaimi says if tests show the pillars of the building are unsafe, it will be condemned for demolition. "We will ask the tenants to vacate immediately."
Omer Rabei Salim bin Nashwan, a tenant who posted the complaint to the municipality, said after the new owner took over, the tenants had signed a tenancy contract till December 31, 2003 and it was not attested at the municipality.
"The owner then told us to vacate the building by September 15 in return for shaving off three months' rent. We have families and need sufficient time to move to another building. The owner is threatening us that he will disconnect the power and water supply if we do not vacate the building."
Sushil Baban, a tenant who moved to another building, with six other families, says he was offered two month's rent.
"Despite the tenancy agreement which ends in April 2004, I immediately vacated the apartment . The building is in very bad shape. I had spent some of my money to fix things in my apartment."
The lift is not working. Stairs are dark and unlit. The balcony rails are broken. The sewage water is overflowing near the septic tank. The ground floor shops have been vacated many months ago. The windows are all smashed with shattered glass lying everywhere.
Gulf News
