When the going gets tough, the turf gets going

Nearly 200 residents of The Greens have filed a petition against Emaar's initiative to replace 600 square metres of green lawns with artificial turf and big trees with small plants in pots at Al Dhafrah and Al Thayyal courtyards.

“For years, this area has served as the natural green oasis for the desert city. Our petition is against synthetic greenery,'' said Roland Roth, a resident of Al Dhafrah and head of ‘Keep The Greens Green' campaign.

The changes are supposedly meant to sort out irrigation and drainage problems in courtyards which, according to Ghada Elkabbany, owner of an apartment at Al Dhafrah, are “unacceptable and useless''.

Seepage problems

“By cutting off the need to water the lawns, there will be no water leaking from planter boxes through to the car park below the courtyard. But that will not solve the problem of fungus and seepage on floors above the ground floor. Even on the second and third floors and up, you'll notice seepage and peeling on walls and ceilings. This is both at Al Thayyal and Al Dhafrah, where almost 350 people live. Uprooting trees and removing natural greenery will not solve this. The problem lies in faulty construction and inadequate waterproofing,'' said Elkabbany.

Nikolay Shashirin, Managing Director of Cabex Trading and a resident of Al Dhafrah, said, “I pay a premium rent for the beautiful green view. My one-and-a-half-year-old boy loves to play on the lawns. If this changes, then people won't want to pay so much.''

Elkabbany agreed: “Rents will go down in the area and we will lose out. Owners pay hefty maintenance fees for natural greenery. When Emaar is cutting down on maintenance and making it all artificial, why should we pay the same amount for plastic lawns and potted plants?''

“Moreover,'' said Roth, “in summer, these lawns will get so hot that no one will be able to step on them.''

Construction has been under way since December, though residents saw the signboards just over a month ago. An Emaar Properties spokesperson said: “The Greens homeowner community was consulted in September 2008 about the changes. We are upgrading the courtyards at our own cost. No funds are being paid by owners.''

He added: “This will resolve several issues of landscaping and drainage with respect to irrigation water in courtyards.''
The spokesperson said all other landscaping will remain normal. “Only some areas of the courtyard are being replaced by maintenance-free synthetic turf, whilst natural trees and plants will be replanted.''

Saving the greens

The owners, however, met on Tuesday at Al Dhafrah and plan to take the ‘Keep The Greens Green' petition to higher authorities in Emaar next week. They'll also submit an alternative ‘natural landscaping' proposal to Emaar to put an end to plastic greenery. “There has to be a better solution to stop leakage than to kill the little bit of green in our courtyards,'' Elkabbany said.