UAE | General
Fire victims unhappy with temporary accommodation in Abu Dhabi
Fire residents disgruntled over alternate accomodation arrangements, saying the apartments are small and dirty
- By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 2, 2010
- Image Credit: Alex Westcott/Gulf News
- The building was badly damaged in the blaze and renovations are expected to take several months. At least 132 people were made homeless.
Abu Dhabi: Several residents of the building which caught fire on Saturday are disgruntled because of the alternative accommodation they've been given by authorities. However, officials insist they're doing everything possible to minimise any inconvenience caused to them.
At least 132 people from 28 families were rendered homeless in the fire that erupted in the Awafi Trading building on Saturday afternoon. Nine people sustained minor to moderate injuries, due to smoke inhalation during the blaze that took firefighters more than three and a half hours to put out.
According to preliminary police reports, the fire started on the ground floor of the building and spread to three of the upper floors, rendering it unsafe to live in.
The eight-storey building is over 22 years old.
Following the incident, the residents were put up in a hotel by Abu Dhabi Police in coordination with the Red Crescent.
"The issues started on Monday evening when we were asked to move out of the hotel since only three days of accommodation had been arranged. But we refused since we had nowhere to go," one of the residents, who asked not to be named, said.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Properties (ADCP), which manages the building which caught fire, then made arrangements with the hotel to extend their stay, according to officials.
Further more, ADCP invited the residents to their office on Tuesday morning to provide them with alternative apartments in which to live as the renovation of the damaged building will take several months. But, residents say they're unhappy with the apartments they've been offered.
"Our family of six was offered a one-bedroom in the city, but it's very inadequate," said one.
Other residents complained that they were offered flats that were far away from the city, in places such as New Shahama and Musaffah.
An Arab national who had been living in the building for seven years said: "The flat they offered was filthy and full of insects."
"I paid the rent for the whole year just last week and the fire wasn't our fault so they should certainly help us with finding an apartment in the city," said another.
ADCP's CEO Dennis O'Connor dismissed the complaints, saying they offered the apartments not out of responsibility, but as a humanitarian gesture.
"The families were paying Dh30,000 [some up to Dh50,000] for two to three-bedroom flats, but the market value has gone up to more than Dh130,000. However, we ignored this fact because of the situation they were in.
"Our priority was to put a roof over their heads. We offered 28 units that were vacant and available."
According to O'Connor, the majority of the apartments were on Abu Dhabi Island, except for a few.
Since the residents had already paid their rent for the damaged building, they can move into the new apartments provided for them for free on three-month contracts. At a later stage, ADCP will calculate how long they can stay rent-free, based on their present lease agreement.
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