Mould stubbornly forming on the walls of a flat in Jaffliya has given a young family of four a virtual eviction notice.

The family, which has a seven-month-old baby, is fighting a losing battle with the brownish-green spots and dust formed by paint falling off the wall and ceiling in the master bedroom where the baby also sleeps.

Mary, the mother, is concerned about the constant sneezing in the family, including her baby and 11-year-old son.

The mould first appeared last year and now covers at least 20 square feet of the master bedroom wall and ceiling and other parts of the house and could cause untold health hazards to its occupants.

"I was pregnant when we first noticed the mould last year. I wrote to the property managers in September 2002. But now my baby girl is seven months old. The mould is still being breathed into our lungs," said Mary, whose family occupies a three-bedroom flat with a spacious hall.

The mould, she said, makes the place unfit for habitation and she fears for her children.

Mould has long been considered a health hazard and is the subject of a celebrated case in the US that was turned into a film in which the occupants obtained huge court-awarded damages.

Mary has complained to the Dubai Rent Tribunal, which promised speedy help. No housing inspectors, however, were sent to their flat to find out the type of mould as well as the health hazards it poses.

Said Mary: "The property manager came here once, looked at it, and said, 'yeah, it's bad'. I asked him: 'If you had a pregnant wife, or a baby, would you like them to live in a house like this?' He said, 'No'."

My son and baby girl had been constantly sneezing and coughing. Vacating the place is fine, but they can always advertise the place without fixing the problem.

"A lot of our friends suggested that we move out, which we're going to do anyway. I don't know how many tenants out there have to endure this kind of thing. But if we leave this flat, someone else will move in and suffer the same problem. It's not fair."

When she wrote to the landlord in September last year, workers did patchwork inside the flat. When the problem lingered, Mary decided to contact the Rent Tribunal. An official promised to sort it out with the landlord.

Russel, Mary's husband, said: "I called the real estate guy who said 'yeah, I'm coming to your place today to fix the problem.' But that was four weeks ago and he still hasn't shown up. It's frustrating."

The property managers admit there's something wrong and said they tried to fix the problem at least seven times in the past.

Shine Chiramal, of Al Qamish real estate company, said: "The building in question is only 10 years old. I do admit there's a problem caused by some leakage on the wall. We tried to fix it, applied water-proofing and even air pressure tested the pipes for leaks.

"We couldn't pinpoint the cause of this problem. We manage eight buildings and four villas. This is the first time we've encountered this kind of problem.

"It's not necessary that the family must vacate the place, but since they have a baby, major repairs may adversely affect the health of the baby, especially if we bring cement and other construction materials inside the house."

According to him, they are just waiting for the family to finish the lease contract next month.

"It's a puzzle for us. We have spent money to trace the the leak. My engineers have checked it, removed the plaster and re-plastered the walls and ceilings. Repainted it using oil-based paint. I think the only solution is to vacate the place. We'll keep the flat vacant until we rectify the problem," he said.