Bachelors fined Dh7,344 for overcrowding in International City

Bachelors fined Dh7,344 for overcrowding in International City

  DUBAI – In the continuing crackdown against overcrowding in International City, errant tenants were fined nearly Dh7,500 this week following site inspections early in August. ExpatMedia.Net reported that Trakhees personnel went door to door on August 1 to check apartments flagged for overcrowding. This week, Trakhees served notices to tenants found overcrowding apartments in the residential area and gave them a fine of Dh7,344. Trakhees is the regulatory agency for freehold properties and businesses in special development zones and areas and is the authority handling complaints on overcrowding. According to Trakhees, the “allowable limit of occupants within the apartment is one person per 200 square feet” or a maximum of three people per studio apartment and five people per one-bedroom apartment. “We have to find a new place to stay since we were fined for overcrowding and the apartment owner is upset that we violated community rules and wants us out,” a tenant, who wished to remain anonymous, told ExpatMedia.Net. “What can we do? A partition is all we can afford with our salaries,” he said. He said there were six bachelors living in the studio apartment that they rented. They had managed to fit three double-decked beds in a 470-square meter space. Homeowners and other tenants have welcomed the crackdown on overcrowding, saying it can help solve parking issues in the community and improve safety in the neighbourhood. “I am happy to see action on complaints about overcrowding here,” said Ramesh V., a homeowner, “International City is a good place to stay but overcrowding is just ruining it for the rest of us because there are so many people living here it is difficult to find parking space.” "My sister and I rent a studio here and sometimes we can't help but feel a bit paranoid especially when we see so many people coming in and out of a single apartment," said a tenant who wanted to remain anonymous. Bachelors have been the target of recent housing inspections in Dubai’s residential areas, with 80 inspections done from March to July. Jaber Al Ali, head of the Buildings Inspection Department at Dubai Municipality, early in August said that the municipality is cracking down on overcrowding in apartments in residential areas to safeguard health standards. Al Ali said that overcrowding can “lead to the spread of diseases due to… the unhygienic conditions they live in”. Al Ali said the public can report incidents of overcrowding on the hotline 800900. In International City, Nakheel has tried to curb the problem of overcrowding by introducing access cards for tenants, issuing a maximum of two cards for tenants of a studio apartment. The developer has also repeatedly reminded residents of International City to cooperate with Trakhees and to report to the authority any incident of overcrowding.JTNDc2NyaXB0JTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyJTJGJTJGcGFnZWFkMi5nb29nbGVzeW5kaWNhdGlvbi5jb20lMkZwYWdlYWQlMkZqcyUyRmFkc2J5Z29vZ2xlLmpzJTIyJTIwYXN5bmMlM0QlMjIlMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZzY3JpcHQlM0UlMEElMjAlM0MlMjEtLSUyMGluLWFydGljbGUlMjBhZCUyMC0tJTNFJTBBJTIwJTNDaW5zJTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJhZHNieWdvb2dsZSUyMiUyMHN0eWxlJTNEJTIyZGlzcGxheSUzQSUyMGJsb2NrJTNCJTIyJTIwZGF0YS1hZC1jbGllbnQlM0QlMjJjYS1wdWItNTAwNjI0MTU4MzU4MTg0OSUyMiUyMGRhdGEtYWQtc2xvdCUzRCUyMjg1MjYwOTM2MTElMjIlMjBkYXRhLWFkLWZvcm1hdCUzRCUyMmF1dG8lMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZpbnMlM0UlMEElM0NzY3JpcHQlM0UlMkYlMkYlMjAlM0MlMjElNUJDREFUQSU1QiUwQSUyOGFkc2J5Z29vZ2xlJTIwJTNEJTIwd2luZG93LmFkc2J5Z29vZ2xlJTIwJTdDJTdDJTIwJTVCJTVEJTI5LnB1c2glMjglN0IlN0QlMjklM0IlMEElMkYlMkYlMjAlNUQlNUQlM0UlM0MlMkZzY3JpcHQlM0UlMEE=