Nakheel on Saturday banned hundreds of residents from watching Dubai’s New Year’s Eve fireworks on Palm Jumeirah beaches, amid an escalating row over access to communal facilities.
Dubai’s largest property developer brought in extra security to bar residents in its luxury Shoreline project from accessing the beach to watch the city’s dramatic firework displays.
Amid angry scenes, security guards were witnessed warning residents – many with children – that they could be arrested if they tried to enter the beach area without access cards.
“What Nakheel has done tonight is disgusting,” one resident told Arabian Business. “Does Nakheel think this is a good way to treat its customers? I came here with my three young children but have been told I will be arrested if I try and get to the beach.”
Security staff spoken to by Arabian Business shortly before midnight said they would use “whatever force necessary” to stop residents entering the beach. One guard, patrolling three building entrances on the Shoreline, said: “My job is to stop people entering; I don’t care if it’s New Year’s Eve. If people want to get into a fight, I will fight them no problem.”
A spokesperson for Nakheel declined to comment.
Nakheel stopped homeowners and tenants at the Palm Jumeirah property from using its beach, swimming pools and gyms in December, as it moved to privatise the communal facilities.
The developer plans to charge households up to AED12,000 a year for access to these parts of the man- made island, a move opposed by homeowners who claim they own the facilities.
Many buyers have withheld their annual maintenance fees in protest over the row, leading Nakheel to issue temporary access passes to ban defaulters from the beach, pool and gym.
At least 1,300 residents have been blocked as a result. Many of those affected are tenants whose landlord has failed or refused to pay the service charges.
Dubai’s property watchdog, RERA, said last month that Nakheel had no right to deny residents access to communal facilities.
“By law, no one can stop an owner or a registered tenant from using the communal areas once they have paid service fees,” Marwan bin Ghalita, CEO of RERA, told Bloomberg.
“If you bought something based on an agreement with a developer, he can’t change it.”
Nakheel, which owns the clubhouses between the shoreline buildings, can charge residents for the use of facilities and services that aren’t specified in their contracts such as poolside sun beds, towels, showers and changing rooms, bin Ghalita said.
If the developer wants to block residents from accessing the clubhouses where gyms are located, it would have to provide gyms inside the apartment buildings, he added.
By midnight on Dec 31, the Palm Shoreline beach – traditionally one of the busiest places to watch Dubai’s New Year’s Eve fireworks displays – was near empty. A number of tenants said they planned to move out of the development as soon as their lease expired.
“Go and do a survey yourself. You will not find one single person, who intends to carry on living here when their lease is up,” one resident told Arabian Business.
“Many are just leaving early even if it means losing money, because the atmosphere here is so horrible now.”
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