‘Powerless’ residents still in dark

Their lives turned upside down on June 16 and things have not gotten any better for residents of the Corniche Al Madina building in Al Nahda. The apartments in the building, whose electrical room caught fire, are still in darkness. The only respite is that water supply has been restored. “The stench is unbearable. We cannot live in there anymore,” said a resident. Adding to the tenants’ woes, the building management has allegedly refused to refund the security deposit and advance rents paid by them. The 17-storey building that housed close to 700 people was plunged into darkness after a fire destroyed the electrical room. Sources say that close to 60 families have shifted out because the living conditions have become unbearable and the owners have not started repair works. One of the residents, Fathema Hatim, who shifted out of the building last week, said: “Because the building management refuses to refund our deposit and rents paid in advance, we are stuck. My husband and a few residents have launched a complaint with the rent committee of the Sharjah Municipality. We are now hoping something will be done.” Several residents said they have paid Dh1,000 in security deposit and the advance rents amount to Dh3,500 in three cheques each. The residents also stated that they were treated in a hostile manner when they requested the owners to stop producing the cheques in the bank for encashing them. Tenants say that they do not want the cheques to bounce since they will face legal complications at a later stage.A legal representative of the real estate company when contacted by Khaleej Times said: “We cannot be blamed for this. This is an unfortunate incident.” Officials from the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) officials stated that the building officials must initiate action to start the repair work of the electrical room. “I used to stay on the 10th floor of the building. We shifted in three hours because the lift is not fully functional,” added Hatim. Meanwhile, other residents like Ram Maishe are hoping for the owners to start the repair work. “Repair work has not begun. The owner promised us that everything will be sorted out by July 16. It’s been more than 10 days now”.