Sharjah: More than 6,500 bachelors were from family-friendly neighbourhoods since last September, announced a senior Sharjah Municipality official on Thursday.
Thabit Al Turaifi, director general of the municipality, said that 6,561 labourers and bachelors were evacuated during the ongoing campaign, following the instructions issued by His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
“Sharjah City Municipality has organised 1,636 inspections in several areas across the city of Sharjah to evict violating bachelors and labourers from areas designated only for families,” said Al Turaifi.
“Utilities were immediately cut off from the illegal housing units, where many unapproved engineering divisions and electrical connections were detected, which posed as a safety hazard to residents of those housing units,” he said.
The municipality stressed that it will continue the eviction campaigns in cooperation with Sharjah Police and the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA).
Al Turaifi pointed out that a number of other violations were detected in several houses, such as the setting up of auto-repair workshops and foodstuff stores, in addition to the improper storage of electrical materials.
“The inspection campaign aims to preserve the comfort, safety and security of families, which included the areas of Al Qadisiyah, Nasiriyah, Maysaloon, Al Sabkha, Al Jazzat, Al Musalla, Sharqan, Al Ghafia and Al Hazana,” he said.
Al Turaifi urged the public to contact the municipality on its hotline number 993 to report incidents where labourers and bachelors are found living in areas solely intended for families.
The decision to start evicting labourers and bachelors from the city was made in September following a complaint that was aired during a programme broadcast over Sharjah TV and Radio. An Emirati woman had reported the presence of labourers and bachelors in the area where she lived, and said that she felt unsafe for her children and family as single men were seen crowding near her house. She added that the area had too many workers with noisy and unruly behaviour.
Following up on the complaint, Dr Sheikh Sultan immediately directed Sharjah Municipality and Sharjah Police to completely vacate the area of all workers and violators.
