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86% criticise Dubai villa residency crackdown
More than 85 percent of Arabian Business readers have slammed officials from Dubai Municipality over the crackdown on villa residents which could see thousands of people evicted.
A hotline has been set up for people to expose landlords who fail to uphold new laws regarding the occupation of villas.
Thousands of people could be forced to find new homes after officials announced on Sunday a new crackdown on more than one family sharing villas in the emirate.
Municipality chiefs have imposed a 30-day deadline for residents sharing villas to vacate them and have warned landlords that they face fines of up to $13,500 if they fail to comply.
But 86 percent of people who took part in our online poll believed municipality chiefs were wrong to be so strict about the deadline and some thought the crackdown would be the final straw for many residents in the emirate.
Fifty-six percent of respondents called the one family-one villa campaign "ridiculous", saying people were forced to share villas because of the rip-off rents being charged by landlords.
A further 30 percent said the crackdown would force people currently sharing to consider leaving the emirate because they would not be able to afford to live somewhere on their own.
The strict deadline from Dubai Municipality comes as officials aim to prevent the sort of overcrowding that cost several labourers their lives after a villa blaze in Naif early this month.
A major advertising campaign has been initiated by Dubai Municipality and they have called on local people to use a 24-hour toll-free number (800900) to report cases that violate the 'one villa-one family' rule. Reports can also be submitted through the Dubai Municipality website at www.dm.gov.ae.
Adverts in the major newspapers in the emirate state that the 30-day deadline is final and no extension would be considered. The adverts go on to say that "necessary actions shall be taken and stringent punishments" would be imposed in cases reported after the deadline.
In our poll, eight percent of respondents believed more flexibility needed to be given by government officials because 30 days was not enough time to find a new place to live.
Only three percent fully supported the clampdown, saying it was necessary to prevent health and safety problems caused by overcrowding.
The focus of the campaign is on villas at the moment, although cases of shared flats could be taken up at a later date.
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Comments 1-7 of 7
Posted by with heart, Ontario on 11 October 2008 at 22:29 UAE time
Municipality has point on it but evicting people because of shared living with their friends and family are not the solution, instead better to coordinate with all the companies in UAE to give better accommodation to all there company personnel. All problems has a good solution and not this stupid rules against poor people or people who's helping for the progress of the country. Dubai Municipality people should also think what can they help to all nationality not only for the goods of their own. I know that arab people has a good heart and wide thinking, all country has a problem even the powerful and progressive country (USA) but they think nice. excellent solutions for all problem not in a second, minute or hour that just create a rule or policy and the targeting poor, hard working and with god fear people.
Money is not the powerful tools in life. even poor people are living in good, nice, clean way with god in their lives. Also, DM should think the cost of food, cost of house rent, cost of transportation, cost of everything.
I hope that DM will open their heart, mind and soul from now on before creating rules and policy that will cause bad impact to own country. Please wakeup from bad dreams....... how if all expatriates will leave this country? who will work for the cleaning of the road? who will work to build buildings? who will work for your living? who will wash your clothes? who will cook your foods? who will work to develop this country?
Please think, think, think, think. God's is giving.
Posted by Disgusted, dubai, UAE on 2 October 2008 at 18:53 UAE time
What is the point of claiming that Dubai is a "civilized society" when the government treats low income asian expats as less than humans ? What's the point of the Dubai authorities blowing their trumpet about 7 star hotels and worlde's tallest buildings when there is no compassion for the workers who built them ? What is the point of praying 5 times a day or fasting during Ramadan if you have no place in your heart for the welfare of your fellow man ?
Posted by Manolitos on 1 October 2008 at 09:57 UAE time
In any democratic country, it's not municipality's business where I live, with whom, as long as i pay my debts in time, such as rent - which in anycase in Dubai is huge, utilities, etc. I lived in Dubai for three years, I was working with a good huge multinational, earning quite a good salary, but I left. Why? Because I could not take anymore all these stupid rules and laws that Dubai has. Because I was sharing a villa in Jumeirah with a family and i went through all that mess with the municipality when they came, although we were all europeans. We lied, but I knew that they might have come again anytime. And I don't regret at all that i came back to Europe, because I was just about to forget how is it to live a normal life, with normal people, doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
Posted by Mariam Prior on 1 October 2008 at 07:14 UAE time
I cannot think of anything more blind to the facts. It is already illegal for batchelors to share any sort of accomodation, now for families to share villas. If there is no accomodation for low and medium income sectors, then simply the whole supportive structure for this greedy city will collapse. And pointing the finger at the naif road accident is incidental - either this law was already on the way and they jumped on that bandwagon or if seriously it was after that, then laws made in a month should not be allowed.
Society consists of a pyramid - the lowest income category on the bottom, medium in middle and richest on the top. The bottom already has not enough labour accomodation as it was not planned for in advance ( ring a bell? ), now the lower middle is being targetted - makes you wonder what the top is meant to be held up with. 99% of businesses rely on this sort of mix of employees but will not be able to afford to continue.
What a soulless place we have created.
Posted by Tony Fernando, Dubai, UAE on 30 September 2008 at 17:52 UAE time
It's a sad state of affairs when the lower classes of people have no one to turn to, and nowhere to go.
I believe the municipality is right to say that there should not be families sharing a single apartment or several families share a villa. Every family should enjoy the freedom of being able to live in their own space.
But what choice do they have in Dubai? With housing prices well over 70% of a family's income, how can they manage to live on their own. Bring in such rules when ways and means are in place to accommodate every class of person. Build areas of low cost housing in 3 or 4 areas of Dubai, and then make everyone live separately. Not before that.
If the municipality thinks it is not healthy for families to share a roof, think about them travelling for more than 6 hours a day to/from Sharjah or Ajman which is the only place they can afford to live.
Dubai seems to be catering to the rich & famous, offering 5-star living. Great! Hats-off to Dubai, but every society and major City in the world has and needs several classes of people living within it. It is a necessity to have all these classes of people for a society/City to exist, but they all have areas and arrangements for everyone to live and survive. Dubai should follow suit.
Finally, doesn't this rule go against the Arab, Asian and Islamic culture where extended families all live in the same house or compound of houses? The parents and all their children with their wives and grandchildren live in harmony in the same villa. This is culturally the way of local Arab living. Is the municipality going to separate all local families too? Or as usual does this rule only apply to the poor Asians, African and Arabs nations?
I implore the municipality to figure out how and where these families are going to live and survive under these new rules, make alternative arrangements before coming up with such rules.
Posted by Peter Peter, dubai, UAE on 30 September 2008 at 11:41 UAE time
What ever be the reasons that the authorities cite for passing new regulations, almost invariably they make things worse. Did SALIK solve traffic problems ? You bet it didn't. But the Authorities claimed that is what they were doing when they introduced Salik. Perhaps what were needed were more buses on the road. But then it would cost Dubai Govt. money to do that whereas Salik is making millions for them.
The "villa" law is another case in point. Plentiful and reasonably priced housing would have solved this problem. But that would have cost them money. The current rule will make them lots of money and will cost them nothing. Who cares about the poor people or solving problems ?
Posted by PPadmanabhan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 29 September 2008 at 16:12 UAE time
It is pleasing to note that journals like yours are giving people the opportunity to express their regret. In my opinion all these laws and regulations are being implemented from the wrong side. The policy makers should ensure that when labourers/workers are brought into the country by companies, they should have a responsibility to ensure a reasonable habitat for the people. If Municipality expect single family occupancy in Villas and Flats, they should insist that companies allowing people to bring family should provide such facility or else DON'T ALLOW FAMILY VISAs. It is like YOU WANT THE CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!!! Workers are required for getting the job done BUT nobody is willing to take the responsibility that goes with it.. The human rights people should act up on this much more rigorously in association with the United Nations which also is looking in the other direction when it comes to the plight of expatriate workforce with in the GCCs