Life in the Palm Jumeirah: Service confusion

Dubai: Imdaad Operations, the property maintenance firm appointed by Nakheel to keep Palm Jumeirah villas in top order, says it is working to end confusion among residents who say water and sewage problems on their properties were not addressed despite payment of annual maintenance fees.

In an interview with XPRESS, Mahmoud Hussain Rashid, Executive Director of Imdaad, said the company has investigated and found that the complaints stem from a "misunderstanding" by villa owners and residents.

Annual service fees paid into a community fund by each villa owner do not cover in-house repairs, Rashid said - community fees cover only the cost of common-area infrastructure such as roads, waste disposal and green areas.

Pay more, get more

However, villa owners or residents can purchase an additional villa-only preventative maintenance programme called Premium Service at up to Dh27,000 per year to ensure private property issues are covered, Rashid said.

Imdaad Operations assumed 500 Premium Service customers from Nakheel in May and the number has now risen to 650, he said.

An estimated 800 villas are occupied out of the total 1,400 villas constructed by Nakheel on The Palm Jumeirah.

Premium Service customers are covered by Imdaad for issues ranging from electrical and plumbing issues to garage door and swimming pool foul-ups.

Grievance Calls

Rashid said Imdaad's call centre has received a steady stream of calls from Palm residents who were unclear about the maintenance fee structure.

"Call centre staff are working to educate each villa owner," he said, adding they are ready to respond to repairs as soon as possible.

Saeed Al Haouasli, Imdaad's Operations Director, said buying the extra coverage is good because it gives villa owners peace of mind.

"This is not a handyman service. It is a preventive maintenance contract," he said, adding that Imdaad technicians make regular visits to clients' homes to keep everything in order.

Osama Al Alami, Imdaad's Commercial Director, said the company takes 800 calls a day at its Jebel Ali Free Zone headquarters from Palm Jumeirah residents as well as clients from other properties the company maintains.

Imdaad clients