DM deadline: Major blow to Dubai migrants
Dubai,
Sep
22:
In
a
major
blow
to
thousands
of
tenants
in
Dubai,
including
Indians,
the
Dubai
Municipality(DM)
has
announced
a
30-day
deadline
with
effect
from
Sep
21,
2008
for
residents
sharing
villas
to
vacate
them.
"The
landlords
must
ensure
that
only
one
family
lives
in
their
villas.
If
they
failed
to
comply
with
the
new
rules
within
the
deadline,
the
municipality
would
slap
fines
upto
Dirham
50,000
on
them,"
said
a
top
Dubai
official.
The civic body had already said it would not take the responsibility of making the landlords refund the rents collected in advance. According to a tenant Dubai allows companies to hire people without any guarantee of accommodation which have given rise to the problem. The deadline which was announced on Sunday, Sep 21 is all set to put many tenants in deep trouble. ''There cannot be any bachelors, labourers or more than one family in the villas,'' the official was quoted by the Khaleej Times.
Huge rents, road taxes, skyrocketing cost of living have all hit the expatriates hard. "I was sharing a villa in Rashidia, in Dubai. After I was thrown out I now live in Ras al Khaimah and commute to work in Dubai travelling at least 200 kms daily, which is a strain on finance and health,'' Prem, who works in an office in Dubai told sources.
The deadline announced by the municipality has shocked both landlords and tenants. While landlords said that they needed time to evict tenants, the latter requested the civic body to extend the deadline. Many residents said the embassies should take up the matter with the government.
UNI