Sharjah halts work on workers' housing

Sharjah: The construction of new workers' accommodation have come to a halt after the Directorate of Town Planning and Survey stopped issuing licences for construction, Gulf News has learnt.

"The designs for the buildings were already changed twice to meet the necessary specifications of the town planning department, and all we needed was the final approval for it. Yet when I handed it in last week, the official refused to accept it," said N.G., a Sharjah-based consultant.

A senior official at the Directorate of Town Planning and Survey confirmed that the issuing of licences was stopped one month ago, and that further details would be announced in two weeks.

Consultancy and contracting companies said they are uninformed about the current regulations on construction of workers' accommodation and do not know when construction will resume.

'Under revision'

"I was told by Sharjah Municipality that the decision is currently under revision by government authorities, and only afterwards will we be informed whether a quota will be imposed or whether new regulations will take place," said I.H, another consultant.

Company representatives said the decision should have been circulated in advance so that consultants would know whether to start working on future projects in Sharjah.

With construction at a standstill, companies are facing high costs in terms of time and money.

"We have lost a minimum of Dh50,000, and we are only at the preliminary stage. Our project included the construction of seven buildings and we already paid Dh10,000 a month ago to obtain the licence at the town planning department. But when the licence was submitted 10 days ago to Sharjah Municipality for the final approval, it was rejected," said a consultant.