Ras Al Khaimah: The RAK Municipality urged landlords to refuse bachelors as tenants for properties in residential areas and around families.
Mubarak Ali Al Shamsi, the chief of the emirate's municipality, said several complaints about bachelors living among families in residential areas had been received.
He said several legal methods have been taken to prevent this, adding that bachelors living in residential areas is not acceptable and poses serious threats to society.
Al Shamsi said landlords and owners of properties should play an active role in helping the emirate's authorities protect society.
He added that landlords should not rent properties around families to bachelors.
Al Shamsi called on the families who suffer from bachelors' bad behaviour to file complaints with the municipality and other concerned departments which will take the necessary legal measures against those bachelors.
He said the complaints of families will be taken seriously and followed up to ensure that all the official and legal procedures are implemented instantly.
Serious threat
Police sources said bachelors, especially Asians, pose serious threats to women and children, as cases of sexual harassment, rape and prostitution rings, which include the maids of families, have been on the rise.
The sources said bachelors consume huge quantities of alcohol in the houses they rent and that makes a bad situation worse.
The police said they have already registered several cases in which bachelors had harassed neighbouring families. Sources in Ras Al Khaimah said the number of bachelors living in the residential areas is currently more than the numbers of families themselves.
The sources said bachelor numbers have increased in the past couple of years as, with the international financial crisis, those who are married sent their wives and children back home.
Monitoring
The sources said the emirate's authorities should monitor the areas and come up with a list of houses and accommodation rented to bachelors and force their owners to rent these houses only to families, with areas designated mainly for the bachelors which families should avoid.
The sources said low-cost houses in the public areas are the main target of bachelors and that these areas are also targeted by families for their lower rents, which makes a mixture that produces several unusual problems.
The sources said the landlords should act in the interests of society and those who fail to do so should be forced to, while the emirate's authorities should impose laws that force bachelors and their sponsoring companies to rent houses and accommodation away from residential areas and families.
