Leaving Dubai is easy but a heartache

I handed over the keys of our flat that we had been living in for 14 years back to the developers and had to forfeit our deposit.

The inspector said the flat needed a lot of refurbishment work and that maintenance and a paint job is expensive nowadays.

“We lived here for 14 years and you never painted the flat even once,” I said.

He said the developers had stopped painting the flats since 2007. I remember how maintenance was since the worldwide downturn.

Tree-watering pipes at this lush development in Jebel Ali would burst and leak for hours, wasting precious water.

Even as recent as last year, we took a dip in the pool and came out with a bad rash and my fingernails cracked and turned green.

I did not realise it was the cheap chlorine the developer was using until parents started complaining their children were suffering chemical burns.

The inspector said I would have to pay Dh1,000 more over the Dh2,000 deposit that we would forfeit for the refurbishment. “Fitting a new bathtub alone will cost us Dh1,700,” he said.

“What’s wrong with the bathtub,” I asked and he showed me marks that had been there since we had moved in. “You should have complained then,” he said.

Getting the final bill from Dewa (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) was very easy.

You punch in for a ‘Customer Happiness’ ticket at the department and a staffer then taps a few keys on the computer and it is done.

Closing the bank account took longer and luckily my wife had not left the country early. It was a joint account and we both had to sign the forms.

Car seen as scrap!

Selling the car was a cinch. The guy at cashyourcar.com drove it around the block and offered me a ridiculous price.

“It is only good for salvage,” he said. It was sad the car would not be driven anymore but cannibalised for its parts.

Selling household stuff was a pain and people bargained even when the price was throwaway.

"It is a good table for students and writers, for only Dh85,” I advertised. “I will pay Dh70,” said one prospective buyer.

Nobody wanted our furniture so we gave it away for free. Even though we discarded much of our stuff we had to hire a container to ship the rest of the stuff to Bengaluru.

What about the cat?

We paid Emirates the equivalent cost of an adult ticket for the Arabian Mau that we just could not leave behind.

He had been dumped twice by families in The Gardens and is very vocal when feeding time arrives.

The airline was efficient and our fears that the cat would freeze to death were unfounded. 

He tore a nail however, trying to get out of the cage during the flight and the calming medicine that we sprayed on him did not work.

You need another place to stay once the electricity is cut off at the flat to get the final paperwork done.

Luckily, my wife’s uncle has an apartment at Jumeirah Beach Residence and we moved in for a short staycation, enjoying the view of the Arabian Gulf waters from the 27th floor.

Ain Dubai (Eye of Dubai) is being constructed just off the JBR beach and by next year it should be ready.

It will of course, be bigger than London Eye and 1,400 people will be able to enjoy the ride at one time.

It is said that you cannot visit Cyprus only once, you invariably visit it again.

Dubai, too, seems to have that charming ability to attract people and most probably we may stay here for a few days when we are passing through to Toronto.

Mahmood Saberi is a freelance journalist based in Dubai. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ mahmood_saberi.