Sharjah: A residential area has come under attack from residents who have to live on a street covered in overflowing sewage water.
"We have been facing this problem for three months now. The whole street is covered by the outburst of sewage, which is of great concern to us all because it can cause an outbreak of cholera," said one of the tenants of the building in the Bu Tina area.
Families living in residential buildings across the street in Bu Tina are put off from parking their cars over the sewage water, and say they prefer to find a cleaner parking space that is a 10-minute walk away.
"It is very unpleasant to walk through the dirty water, and sometimes I have no choice but to walk through. I have already complained to the landlord but he said that it was not his responsibility but that of the municipality's," said M. K. "I am worried that my children can get sick. Having all that water around is a problem because they are tempted to always jump in and play, and I am constantly telling them to be careful," said Swati, a mother of two. Officials at Sharjah Municipality confirmed that they were aware of the problem.
Hassan Al Tafaq, Head of the Environment Section at Sharjah Municipality, said they had already issued five warnings to the landlord in order for him to provide a solution.
"The sewage network in the area is completed, so the landlord has to either connect the building to the sewage network or make an agreement with a sewage tanker company to remove it once a week or once a month," said Al Tafaq.