68 Abu Dhabi families living in the dark over utility bills

Abu Dhabi: After nine days without electricity or water, 68 families were still waiting for power to be restored to their accommodation complex on Thursday.

Their hopes hinge on word that a property manager assigned to their building had reportedly failed to pay over Dh90,000 in utility bills leading to a cancellation of services to the building.

Despite electricity and water being included in the Khalifa A compound tenants’ rental contract, tenants alleged that the manager demanded an additional amount of money in exchange for returning their power.

“He said he needed an extra Dh1,000 from each house that would total up to Dh68,000 to help him pay our bills. He said he would return this amount to us. However, we weren’t sure we would ever get our money back. After that, he disappeared for several days and switched off his mobile phone,” said Neda Mohammad Hassan, an Indian tenant living with his wife and daughter at the compound.

“We kept calling him until he finally answered and said that he was at the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC). We immediately headed there and he still asked us for the additional Dh1,000. We refused, but he then assured us that a friend of his is coming to the location with the money needed. We waited with him at the ADDC for two hours but no one showed up,” Hassan added.

The property manager could not be reached by Gulf News for comment.

Finally, neighbours allegedly took the property manager to the Mina Police station where they said he was arrested for bounced cheques and then transferred to the Khalidiya Police station.

Attempts by Gulf News on Thursday to confirm the arrest of the property manager went unanswered by authorities.

An official document asking the ADDC to restore power to all six villas was issued by the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) at the tenants’ request. However, as of press time on Thursday, the water and electricity has not been restored.

“The pending bills belonged to tenants that were living in these villas before us. My family and I had moved in only in November of last year, and so did my neighbours in other villas. Therefore these bills, which are over Dh30,000 per villa, could not belong to us,” said Egyptian resident Rami Ramadan Mahmoud, who lives in the compound with his wife and one-year-old son.

One of the residents installed a generator that will help provide water to the villas.

“The water is very sparse and I often go to my friends’ houses for simple things like taking showers. My wife and son have been very badly affected as well,” Mahmoud added.

Speaking to Gulf News about the legal aspects of the dilemma, counsellor Ali Al Abbadi said:

“Problems like these happen surprisingly frequently. Lessors take money that does not belong to them and tenants become victims of the illegal activities. They must revisit the ADJD and ask that the lessor be held responsible for paying the pending amount so that even if he does not have the money, he would face legal consequences and the residents would have their water and electricity restored.”