Ajman: His Highness Shaikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, yesterday issued an Emiri decree setting up the Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Authority's (ARRA) board of directors.
"It's a great plus for ARRA as it will strengthen the establishment's ability to work better at regulating the Ajman property market," Omar Al Bargouthi, director-general of the ARRA, told Gulf News.
This follows an initiative issued in November by the ARRA to allow investors who have lost money to choose properties from a list of approved and listed developers and negotiate a discounted rate that would suit them.
The initiative sought to help investors cut their losses on projects whose development has stalled.
The real estate sector in Ajman was the latest victim of the global downturn.
Thousands of investors had invested in the emirate's real estate, which offered a cost-effective alternative that attracted middle-income families.
As a result, Ajman witnessed scores of prime projects including Emirates City, Emirates Lake Towers, Uptown Ajman and Awali City.
Many developers fled the scene when the market ran into financial difficulty, leaving investors stranded.
The ARRA was formed to defuse the situation and broker a deal with some developers who are pursuing their projects to help both investors and developers.
Objective
"[The] ARRA's primary objectives are to make them [investors] happy [and in] agreement [with] developers.
"We hope their decision is something they're not going to regret later on," Al Bargouthi told Gulf News.
"We look at reasons why certain projects are delayed. Our aim is to propose solutions between developers and investors."
Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi was named chairman of the board while Shaikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, head of the Municipality and Planning Department, was named deputy chairman.
Salim Saif Al Matroushi, Ahmad Ebrahim Rashid Al Gimlsi, Colonel Majid Salim Al Nuaimi, Mohammad Bin Omar Al Muhairi, and Rami Ahmad Al Dabbas were appointed to the board of directors.
