Dubai: Several tenants of a Dubai tower strongly contend they have been struggling without power in the heat since Saturday.
They allege that “the management” of Shaikh Essa Tower, on Shaikh Zayed Road, disconnected electricity to dozens of units.
It follows reported notices to tenants of an unspecified number of units to vacate by April 30. One “Reminder” is dated April 21 — two days after the alleged utility cuts began.
Residents of affected units said they were paying rent on a monthly basis but the April 21 notice said “all monthly contracts will not be renewed”.
However, one resident claimed he had paid until May.
It was not clear how many apartments had disruptions but residents said “70 to 90 units” were impacted.
Angry residents of the tower have been gathering in the building lobby at night after returning from work, demanding the services be reconnected.
It was not clear on Wednesday who was responsible for the cuts. No immediate comment was available from World Wide Real Estate, identified by some residents as the property management company.
Others said the property was under new management, but the conflicting information could not be verified on Wednesday.
An official of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said, as a general procedure, utility services are not disconnected if people are living in a unit, regardless of any request by the landlord or property management to do so.
We’re humans
“My nine-month-old baby is sleeping in the balcony because there’s more air outside,” said a Filipino father who lives in the 30-storey tower.
“You can’t just turn off someone’s electricity and water, we’re humans.”
Another resident, a middle-aged Indian mother, added: “We’re living in hell. We’re a family of four who has to do everything outside because we can’t stay home. My daughter was crying the whole night.”
A Filipina mother, who said she has high blood pressure, added: “We’ve been sweating and sweating. All the food’s gone bad in the fridge. There’s no cold water and no hot tea. I’ve got hypertension and when the temperature goes up, my blood pressure goes up. We have laundry piled up and no [power] to iron our office clothes.”
She added that her daughter had called Dewa to complain and claims she was told their unit was not slated for disconnection.
No bills
Some residents said their names were not on Dewa bills because they were “subleasing”. Others said their names were only on “internal [rent] contracts” with the building management.
“We were told our Dewa bill is included in the contract, so we only pay excess if the bill goes over a certain amount. We don’t use Dewa [accounts] directly,” one resident said.
The Dewa official urged tenants to ensure their name is on the Dewa account and bill.
In Dubai, rent contracts must be registered under the Ejari (My Rent) system of the Land Department’s Real Estate Regulatory Agency (Rera).
A fresh comment from Rera could not be obtained on Wednesday.
Mohammad Bin Hammad, senior director of real estate relations at Rera’s regulatory department, had earlier told Gulf News: “If the lessor is a real estate leasing and management agency, then they are obliged to register properties leased by them. If the owner leased the property directly, then the tenant needs to register his lease contract.”
