UAE | General
Resident fear rooftop shanties are security risk, fire hazard
Some residents in the Hor Al Anz area fear rooftop shanties there are a security hazard for their families.
- By Sunita MenonStaff Reporter
- Published: 23:31 December 28, 2008
- Blue collar workers and bachelors living in rooftop shanties have given rise to security concerns for residents in the Hor Al Anz area.
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
Dubai: Some residents in the Hor Al Anz area fear rooftop shanties there are a security hazard for their families.
Residents say it is difficult for them to venture out after 4.30pm as the place is swarming with bachelors and blue collar workers living in these shanties. One resident also complained of a bachelor photographing children with his mobile phone.
These shanties continue to flout Dubai Municipality's safety regulations under which companies need the civic body's permit to provide its workers with accommodation on their work sites.
A firm violating the rule can be fined Dh5,000 if the number if the employees thus accommodated is between 6 and 20. The fine will be doubled if the number of employees is between 21 and 30. It will be Dh15,000 if the number of staff staying on the premises is between 31 and 50 and Dh25,000 if it is more than 50 workers. A firm that accommodates individuals inside buildings not designated as "accommodation" will be fined Dh5,000 for each individual.
Residents living in that area wondered how these shanties continued to remain and bachelors continued to live there when the civic body had launched campaigns against them.
"These make-shift shelters on rooftops are made of highly inflammable materials like plywood. The activities there are hardly checked by the watchmen, who prefer to turn a blind eye on the entire thing," said Kirti Patel, a resident of the area.
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said he had seen one man photographing young children on his mobile phone.
"This is not acceptable. It happened with my daughter. I am too scared to even think of the consequences. I have no idea what is the need to photograph children. I have seen some touching their cheeks and running their hands on their heads." R. Kombi, another resident, said the rooftop dwellers often do their cooking in the open.
"Their action is hazardous for everyone in the area. Whenever I come across them cooking in the open I am reminded of the fire that gutted such shelters in the Naif area in August," he said.
Asked why no one lodged a complaint with the civic body or the police, he said the residents are afraid to talk to the workers because they will be working in the area while the residents go for work leaving their families at home. "We would like to draw the attention of the authorities by bringing up the issue in the newspapers."
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