Dubai: Tenants of a 150-apartment building are compelled stay in cars and malls after their building’s AC system crashed a week ago.
Residents of CBD-6 (Global Green View building) in International City have been living without AC since last Thursday after the building’s chiller broke down.
They are questioning how they are going to cope with the heat while fasting in Ramadan after the AC of the entire nine-storey building stopped working.
“We are spending most of our time in Mirdif City Centre... I can’t cook because then the house will become even hotter. What am I supposed to do when Ramadan comes? My son has fever and my husband started getting headaches because of the heat,” Pakistani mother-of-two Urooj Naveed told Gulf News. The building’s servicing company, SAGA International Owner Association, kept promising that the problem will be solved in 48 hours and eight days have passed, she said. “We want urgent maintenance or re-location,” said Urooj.
Afghan resident Sayed Zabihullah, who lives on the sixth floor, spends most of his time in his car. “I have a two-year-old daughter and I have to spend a lot of time in the car, especially at night, so she can get some sleep. To help my daughters cope with the heat their mother give them a shower two to three times a day.”
Zabihullah said the servicing company told him they first have to get a quotation, study it, then get the parts and they don’t know when this will be done. “How is it our problem? What are we supposed to do during Ramadan? How are we supposed to cope with the heat while we are fasting?” he said.
Salvador Tellis, a manager at SAGA International Owner Association, said they are trying to solve the problem as soon as possible. “The AC stopped working on Thursday after the chiller broke down. The company tried to rectify the problem but found that we need certain parts, three of which have to be air-freighted. I expect that the problem will be fixed between 48 hours to another one week,” Tellis told Gulf News.
Tellis said it is taking this much time to fix the chiller because the building’s entire system has to be changed, “It is not an individual problem that can be immediately rectified,” he said. The company had been managing the building only for a month and a half and their intention is to solve the problem as soon as possible.
Pakistani tenant Mujahed Noshaba who stays on the sixth floor said even before the chillers broke on Thursday, the building always had AC problems, which is why he believes the company should have taken precautionary measures. “I have a 45-day-old baby and a four-year-old. I couldn’t risk their health, so I moved them and their mother to another apartment that I had to rent.”
Tenant said they have complained to the authorities. “We called the police and they said we have to contact the Land Department. The Land Department requested for a contract between the building management and servicing company. We could not get the contract and without that we can’t file a report at the department,” said Harsh Vardhan, another tenant.
To cope with the heat, Vardhan purchased four fans. His elderly parents who are visiting from India are also suffering.
Chinese tenant Lin Dhao said he his entire family are sleeping in the living room because their bedrooms are too hot.
